
THE 
DEFENCE OF THE TROTH 




Class 'B^'""-;5 

Book .r>42^ 

CopightlJ" 



COPVRIGHT DEPOSIT 




THE AUTHOR 



THE 



DEFENCE OF THE TRUTH 



BY 



R J, SEDLASKY 

M 



Fort Dodge, Iowa 




Copyrighted 1910 by R J, Sedlasky 



EPWORTH PRINTING COMPANY 
Epworth, Iowa 






Read me before you condemn me. My name is the Defense of Truth. 
Some people are quick to judge. Judge not lest we be judged. God 
alone is our judge. 



protestantism anti Eomanism 



This book was written in defense of true Bible teaching and of men 
>vho have dared to defend it at the risk of life. 



(gCl.A^68:ci3o 



mTRODUCTION. 



I do not know of a more fitting introduction for this book 
than the following paragraphs which I have taken from 
"Missions, Light in Darkness" by Rev. J. E. Godby and A. 
H. Godby. The reader will please take note of the fact that 
these great writers say that the Roman Catholic Church has 
lost its true teachings and spirit and that it is today only a 
Church of Rome, the very thing which I am trying to prove 
in this book. 

"We live in an age when the missionary spirit is power- 
fully stirring in the church. It is essentially the spirit of 
Christianity. When the apostles heard the Master's com- 
mand, 'Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to 
every creature', they looked forth upon a world to be con- 
q uered, and their faith was to bring it into subjection to their 
King. 

' 'The conquest was not, as now, of the enlightened over 
the barbarous. The Christian religion today moves outward 
from the centers of the world's power. Art, literature, 
philosophy, law, commerce, and even military power are its 
allies, and either the world's highest civilization shall fail and 
the ages of darkness return, or the spread and triumph of 
this civilization shall bear the name of Jesus to the ends of 
the earth, and erect Christianity upon the wrecks of every 
other form of religion, as the fulfillment of man's highest 
hope — a pleroma of all religious truth. The beginning of 
Christianity was with the weak things of the earth. Judea 
had no place among nations. She had no prestige, and no 
resource of power which the nations regarded. To be born 
'King of the Jews' was no great honor. The disciples of 
Jesus were contemptible, even in the estimation of their own 
people. They were, as the sacred history expresses it, 'un- 



4 

learned and ignorant men'; yet were they entrusted with a 
work to which no human resources were equal. 

"The carrying out of the Master's command to them meant 
war upon systems deeply rooted in hereditary faith, support- 
ed by law, and beautified by literature and art. The reli- 
gion of Jesus was, by its very claims, at war with every oth- 
er religious system. It demanded acceptance of all men. It 
claimed to belong, not to a nation or a race, but to the world. 
It was to be the universal and only religion. Thus, if true 
to its claim, Christianity was committed to an irrepressible 
conflict with the ancient civilization in all its institutions. 
It contemplated nothing less then the conquest of the world, 
and that by forces which seemed to the world most contempt- 
ible. 'The weak things of the world were chose to confound 
the mighty, and things that were not, to bring to naught 
the things that were.' 

"The Roman goverment was as tolerant of religious belief 
as any goverment of to-day. All systems of faith and re- 
ligious cults found shelter under the scepter of Augustus. 
The subjugated nations, under his sway, held their old faith, 
built their temples, and worshiped as they willed. The pan- 
theon at Rome was in honor of every god, and expressed 
equal respect for all. Christianity was intolerant. It con- 
demned all; it proposed to overthrow all. Its watchword was 
Conquest. It was for this reason that the goverment of Rome 
soon made war against Christianity. It was a struggle for 
self-preservation. Jesus Christ proposed the overthrow of 
all institutions found in heathenism. If Christianity tri- 
umphed, the Roman empire must fall or undergo a most rad- 
ical revolution. It was for this reason that the Emperors 
unsheathed the sword and stood in the pathof theNazarene. 
It was for this reason that rulers, whose names had else 
gone down to posterity as mild and humane, are now chiefly 
remembered as the persecutors of the Church. 

"But Christianity, though intolerant, was mild. Its weap- 
ons were spiritual. It condemned and denounced, but when 
assailed by force patiently suffered. It was a moral leaven. 
Its methods of warfare were conviction and conversion. 
It would make no compromise with systems which it held to 
be false, but, as it sought only a moral triumph, it was pre- 



5 

pared to trust and to bleed until there came in the very 
convictions and consciences of men a revolution which should 
bring deliverance. 

' 'The deliverance came. It was not piety but policy which 
caused Gonstantine the Great to inscribe the cross upon the 
banner that led the Roman legions. But he sickened at the 
slaughter that had marked the reigns of his predecessors 
and brought no relief from the increasing power of the 
Nazarene. He saw that the end must be submission; that 
the Christian faith must be at the foundation of the govern- 
ment and the civilization of the future. It was for this rea- 
son that he emblazoned the cross upon his banner and in- 
scribed it with the motto: In hoc signo vinces. 

"Gonstantine conquered under the cross. At the Melvian 
Bridge, under the walls of Rome, he gained the victory 
which placed Christianity at the foundation of civil govern- 
ment for all after time. 

"Thus, in the first ages of its history, the power of Christ- 
ianity was fairly measured with the most cultivated heathen 
faith and the highest form of heathen civilization, until "the 
kings of the earth no more took council together against the 
Lord and against his Anointed, to break their bands or cast 
away their cords." Not only its aggressive character was 
revealed, but its invincible strength. 

"In after time, when no longer forced to suffer under the 
sceptre of tyranny, but when she was herself able to wield 
the sceptre, the church forgot that the weapons of her war- 
fare were not carnal but spiritual. The triumph of formal 
Christianity has always outrun the triumph of the Christian 
spirit in the hearts of men. When the Church was confessed 
to be superior to the State in temporal power, and kings laid 
down their necks to the Pope, and the resources of kingdoms 
were laid under contribution, to the uttermost, to clothe 
church dignitaries in splendor and to build temples, as mon- 
uments of human pride, the Christian spirit was well nigh 
lost from the visible body of Christ. Authority and force 
were relied upon for the propagation of the religion of love 
and mercy. The aggressive character of Christianity and 
its condemnation of all other forms of religion, tended 
inevitably to bigotry and intolerance, where the spirit of 



6 

the Master was wanting-. It was the business of the Christ- 
ian to fight against evil, to condemn error, and seek the 
welfare of the erring. To make war against sin only to 
rescue from ruin the sinner, is to act as no carnal motive 
can prompt men to act; to exhibit a spirit which is not nat- 
ural to man. The church, as an organized power, claim- 
ing to represent fully the kingdom of Christ on earth, and 
invested with power to enforce her edicts and decrees, be- 
came the chief agent in persecuting sincere faith. Present- 
ing her doctrines as infallible, she forbade freedom of con- 
science to men, and by her decrees incarcerated the human 
mind in a dungeon where the sph-it of honest inquiry found 
itself fenced in on every side by dogmas, menaced by 
anathemas. All immoralities might be atoned for by due 
penance, but heresy was the sin unto death. 

"The massacre of St. Bartholomew's, the dungeons of the 
inquisition, and the fires of Smithfield are witnesses how 
cruel the church can become when she represents the doc- 
trine without the spirit of Christ. But the true Christian 
spirit was never quite extinguished from the church. If she 
shed the blood of the martyrs, she also rearei the martyers. 
If upon the church must be laid the terrible charge of put- 
ting men to death for conscience" sake, to her must still be 
accorded the glory of teaching men that for conscience' sake 
they should be willing to die. 

"There were pure hearts in the church in her greatest 
corruption, and the saving power of Christ was represented 
in the martyrs, Jerome, John Huss and others, that meekly 
died for their cause, yet put to death by the church which 
claimed alone to represent His cause. 

"The true spirit of Christianity began to triumph in the 
reformation. The reformation added nothing to the doctri- 
nal teaching of the church, but was a protest against her 
tyranny and corruption, and cleared away from the essential 
truths of God's word the rubbish of superstition heaped 
about them for the ends of priestcraft. Protestantism 
brought forward a better phase of Christanity, more tolerant 
of honest convictions and more intent upon purity of life. 
Yet, two centuries elapsed before Protestantism bore its 
fruits in entire freedom of conscience. Such freedom, though 



7 

asserted in the right of private judgement in interpreting 
the Word of God, was not fully accorded in, practice so long 
as the various bodies of reformers waged bitter war with 
each other and the adherents of one creed denied or doubt- 
ed the possibility of salvation to others who honestly held 
a creed in some points differing from their own. 

"The exercise of private judgement in the interpretation 
of God's Word resulted in many Christian sects. These 
sects or denominations had a great mission to accomplish in 
the providence of God. They were to bring the church to 
the true unity of Christ — a unity of the spirit in the bond s 
of peace, not to be coerced, not possible to spring from a 
common consent in any dogmas or ritual, but only realized 
in the heart, or exhibited to the world in a spontaneous fel- 
lowship by the drawing of one spirit. 

"The various denominations taught each other toleration: 
and while they afforded larger liberty in the search after 
truth, and pushed that search upon many lines, they learned 
to regard most of their differences as unessential doctrines 
and rules. They aided each other to see that the chief thing 
in religion is the love of Christ in the heart, asserting its 
presence in the love of all men and in purity of personal life. 
They learned to cultivate the unity of the spirit; and their 
various organizations, being brought into brotherly fellow- 
ship and mutual co-operation in a common cause, gave to 
the world a proof of the Christ spirit in the church which 
no unity upon the basis of creeds or forms could have ex- 
pressed." 

The object of this book is to defend the truth and those 
who have espoused it, even at risk of life, and who are con- 
demned and falsely represented to us by the Church of Rome, 
As a part of this book I shall endeavor to answer a series of 
questions dealing with the doctrines of the Roman Church, 
questions which I at one time asked Father Sherman to an- 
swer. The replies will be derived, not from the teachings of 
Rome, but from God's Holy Book, 

There will be many who will say that I am writing this 
book for gain only, or to insult the members of the Catholic 
Church. God forbid that this should be so. Writing is the 
only means by which, under some circumstances, people can 



be reached. If a man wished to come to tfiis city to give 
talks on the errors of the Cathohc Church, how many Ro- 
man Gathohcs would go to hear him? The priests would 
forbid it. And where would he speak? The Catholic Church 
would not be open to him, and he would be oblig'ed to go to 
the street or to the Protestant Churches where they already 
know these truths because they are permitted to read and 
think for themselves. 

Neither am I writing- for my own g'lory , It is no easy task 
for an uneducated man to undertake to write a book, and 
some, especially the priesthood, will censure me, but I be- 
lieve that the truth is always effective though awkwardly 
put. I have little education, but I have done a good deal of 
reading and, having^ been in this country since I was four 
years of age, I have come to know a good deal about people 
and creeds. There are dozens of books written on the evils of 
Romanism, but you catholics will not read them. It is the 
duty of every man to seek the truth, Christ says, ""seek, 
and ye shall find,- knock, and it shall be opened unto you.'^* 
In books is stored the wisdom of the ag-es. The printer per- 
forms daily the miracle of the loaves and fishes, when, in 
making books he multiplies the thoughts of the author. 
How thankful we should be to the great and good men who 
have left us in books the heritag'e of their thoughts, 

I am not trying to defend myself, but the truth and my 
country. An ignorant man is a dang-erous citizen, and I 
purpose to make the truth so clear that men may no longer 
be misled by Rome, but may learn for themselves the cor- 
ruption and false teaching of the Roman Church. I well 
know that my Catholic friends will become my enemies, but 
I feel that I must tell the whole truth. The priest will be 
my greatest enemy and will try to destroy me. Even now 
they have reported that I am insane, a thing which they 
have said of many others who dared to defend the truth, 

I know that it will be difficult to persuade Catholics to 
read my book. But why should they hesitate to discover 
wherein they have been misled? The religious wars of the 
past centuries could have been averted had the people 
known the real facts and not have blindly followed the 
priests. I have had a great many arguments with my Cath- 



9 

olic friends and they usually become very angry on hearing 
the truth. I have written this book in order to present the truth 
in a dispassionate way and give them an opportunity to sit 
down quietly and thoughtfully read. I do not wish by any 
statement to insult any individual or Church, but desire to 
show where the Roman Church is wrong in attacking the 
Protestants and the Public Schools, and wish to direct at- 
tention to some of her teachings. 

I do not wish it to be understood that 1 condemn the mass 
of the Catholic people for holding to the teaching of the 
Roman Church, for I know that the majority of them do not 
realize the position which the hierarchy of their church 
maintains. Because I have written this book in order to ex- 
pose the false teachings, I know that the priests will turn 
against me and will try to get their people to boycott me in 
every possible way, and will say, who is this writer, and 
with what authority does he speak on the Roman Church? 
Before you have finished reading the book, you will have 
my answer, and will be convinced that I know whereof I 
write. I have asked no man's authority, but have the au- 
thority of the world at large, among them being some of 
our greatest writers, missionaries and reformers, men who 
have dared to stand for truth at the risk of life, and any man 
who condemns my work will have all of these, the evidence 
of history and millions of Protestants and the Holy Bible 
against him. But though the whole world should turn a- 
gainst me, I will stand for Truth. 

The priests will say that I never was a good Catholic. I 
have not turned against the Church, but against her false 
teachings and practices. The reformers were the best of 
men, and yet the Roman Church brands them as outcasts 
and hypocrites. One of the weapons that our priests use is 
to tell the laity that Luther wished to establish another 
creed in order that he might marry and thus break his priest- 
ly vow. History shows that priests were not forbidden to 
marry until about 400 A. D. , and then it was because a cer- 
tain good priest had a dream to that effect. If Christ had 
wished this to be so, it would have been ordered long before 
that time. The celibacy of the priesthood is the curse of the 
Church today. I understand that a petition, signed by 500 



10 

priests was once sent to Rome asking that it be abolished. 
Luther did not estabhsh a new creed. He only strove to 
get the Church back to the pure teachings of Christ, and to 
root out the cockle of false teachings that had grown up. 
He tried to root out such men as Tetzel and his "indul- 
gences." The Protestant Church is based on the direct 
teachings of the Apostles, and not on tradition of men, and 
he who condemns the Protestant Church condemns the 
teachings of the Bible. The great fault of the Catholic 
laity today is that they put too much confidence in what the 
priest says. 

To expose evil in Church or State is a good thing. If a 
Protestant preacher does wrong, he is obliged to withdraw 
from the ministry. If a priest does a great evil, he is sent 
to a retreat or to another parish, unless he is untrue to the 
Roman Church. Then it is all day with him. 

Luther was right in not conforming to the practices of a 
Church w^hose teachings he had found to be false. Many a 
priest when young is an ardent lover of the church, but is 
digusted on getting at the inside facts, and would leave if 
he could. The Church says that in the twelve years prepa- 
ration which is necessary in order that young men shall en- 
ter the priesthood they ought to know what they are to 
teach. But they spend too much of that twelve j^ears learn- 
ing how to say glibly the mass in Latin in order to impress 
the people. But I know a humble, unlearned Protestant 
who is winning more souls to the love of Christ than a dozen 
priests. What have these educated priests accomplished 
for God and humanity in the last two or three hundred years 
in Central or South America, or in the last two thousand 
years in their own Catholic Countries? 

The priest will tell you, "Obey Rome, and ask no ques- 
tions", and will forbid you to read this book. It is impos- 
sible to have liberty of thought and at the same time be a 
good Catholic. If you do think for yourself and remain in 
the Roman Church, you will have to be a hypocrite. Why 
are all the countries in which the Roman Church dominates 
inferior to other countries? To be true to God is not the 
same thing as being true to a creed. Paul said, "I have 
kept the faith", but it was not the faith of a church, but 



11 

faith in God. Luther, Huss, Wy cliff, Wesley and others 
who stand out in history were true to God, but they have 
been damned by the Roman Church for not having kept 
their faith in her. 

I do not purpose defending any certain creed. I shall de- 
fend no one man or set of men, but all men in the thing in which 
they were right. More and more in these days we are coming 
to test everything by God's word, and not by any creed. God 
gave us His Book, we are living in a land and age when we 
can read that book and grasp its meaning by using our 
God given powers of thought, which the Roman Church 
has always striven to suppress. It is her definite purpose 
to keep her people in ignorance, knowing that they can thus 
be more easily misled. Instead of teaching the Bible, Rome 
teaches her Catechism, a thing far remowed from the teach- 
ings of Christ. In the Catholic countries all other forms of 
instruction are suppressed as far as possible. In our own 
country the Church attacks the public schools because they 
give too liberal an education. Rome would have us all 
shackled to such ideas as telling beads, kissing images and 
relics and believing in her "miracles." 

I have been a member of the Roman Catholic Church for 
42 years. The reader may wish to know why I am not now 
a member. In my youth I believed that all priests were ho- 
ly, sinless men and that my tongue would cleave to the roof 
of my mouth if I ventured to say aught against them. As 
I grew older the scales began to fall from my eyes and I be- 
gan to distinguish between truth and untruth, and was un- 
able longer to remain where I should have to be a hypocrite. 
How can. any man be a good Catholic and know the doings 
of so many of the priests? They condemn Luther for hav- 
ing broken his vows, but was he not better than they who 
disgrace our daughters or live in concubinage? If we fol- 
low the leading of the priests, it will be to go like sheep to 
the slaughter. 

May I call attention to some of the beliefs of the Roman 
Church to which great importance is attached? It is the 
boast of Rome that she has the truth and the Protestant 
Chui-ches have only a few crumbs. But the Protestant 
Churches have gone back to the Bible for their teaching 



12 

while the Roman Church has manufactured a great many, a 

few of which I will mention. 

First, forbidding her priests to marry. 

Second, the auricular confession. 

Third, giving to the laity the communion in one kind only. 

Fourth, invention of purgatory and the charge for pray- 
ing souls out. 

Fifth, the dependence of infants upon baptism for sal- 
vation. 

Sixth, infallibility of the Pope. 

On Sunday, Jan. 19, 1902, there was held in Chicago at 
the Catholic Laymen's Association a meeting for the purpose 
of making known their grievances as to the corruption of 
the priests and some other matters. The report was sent 
to Cardinal Martinelli, who refused to take any notice of it, 
saying that the laymen had no right to interfere with the 
clergy. 

Rome can not christianize any nation, for she herself is not 
Christian. Catholics are better Christians here than in the 
so-called Catholic countries. The Roman Church itself con- 
ducts its affairs differently in this country than in those 
where it is in power. There are many who believe that if 
Rome were in power in this country it would not be such a 
very bad thing. May God deliver us from the horrors of 
Roman thraldom. I am overwhelmed when I read the hor- 
rors that Ferdinand perpetrated upon his people in the name 
of religion. It is said that the people dreaded the Catholic 
authorities more than they did the Turks. The history of 
Austria gives an account of the reign of one Leopold, from 1607 
to 1710. His reign was eventful and woeful. It was almost 
one continuous scene of carnage. In the character of the 
man there was a singular blending of good and evil. In 
morals he was irreproachable. He was a faithful husband, 
a kind father, and had no taste for sensual pleasures. He 
was naturally melancholy and so exceedingly reserved that 
he lived in his palace almost the life of a recluse. Though 
he was called the most learned prince of his age, a Jesuiti- 
cal education had so poisoned his mind, that, while perpe- 
trating the most grievous crimes of perfidy and cruelty, he 
seemed sincerely to feel that he was doing God service. 



13 
ITis peTsectition of t"he Protestants was persistent, relentless 
•and horrible, while at the same time he was scrupulous in 
Ihis devotions, never allowing the cares of business to inter- 
)f ere with the prescribed duties of the Ghurch. The human 
►church of Popes, Cardinals, Bishops and Priests was his 
:guide, not the divine Bible, hence his darkness of mind and 
Ms crimes. Pope Innocent XI deemed him worthy of canon- 
ization, but an indignant world must injustice inscribe over 
ihis tomb, '^Tyrant and Persecutor,." 

In order that the testimony which I o^er in these pages 
:shall have more force in the eyes of my Catholic readers 
I shall quote freely from the writings of recognized au- 
thorities.. Hence if anyone questions the facts as present- 
ed, he will question ail those from whose writings I shall 
take extracts in support of my statements^. There a^e 
many books which every Catholic who is seeking knowledge 
:and truth ought to read. I will name a few such books., 
:and they can be obtained at any time through me. 
The JBible, 

History of Bohemia, by John Huss, 
History of Germany, by Martin Luther, 
History of the Boman Catholic Church, 
-Rotteck's History of the World, 

-Fifty Years in the Church of Rome, by Pather Chinique-. 
The Parochial School, by Father Crowley. 
From Darkness to Light, by Fx-Priest Bernard Fresen- 
<borg. 

Every man who is with me must be against Rome and 
seeking his own liberty. I am against Rome because she is 
a tyrant to all mankind and is a false teacher. I know that 
I face a powerful foe. An old field marshall said to Martin 
Luther, '^My young monk, you are going a road and taking 
a position the like of which neither I nor many other gener^ 
als have ever ventured to take, but if you are right and as- 
sured in your course, then go forward in the name of your 
God and be of good cheer, God alone will not forsake you,'^ 
Rome would put shackles on body and souL I am against 
-Rome as she is against our public schools. I do not love 
Rome nor do I seek the friendship of her Pope, What this 
country is today is due to Protestantism, and we cannot be 



14 

too thankful for what we have escaped when we view the 
condition of other countries where Rome works her wilL 
It is the duty of every loyal American citizen to do all in 
his power to prevent the Catholic Church from getting any 
further power in controlling the policy of our government. 



SOME TEACHmGS OF THE ROMAN 
CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



A Roman Catholic resident of Ft, Dodge, educated in the 
Catholic schools once said to me, "The day is coming when 
all the Protestants will be brought back to the Roman 
Catholic Church, for Christ said, There shall be one Shep- 
herd and one fold''. How blind he was to give such an in- 
terpretation to the words of Christ, which so clearly refer 
to conditions in Heaven and not upon earth. In Heaven 
there will be no more divisions, no more persecutions. Oh 
that Roman Catholics would read the Bible, so as to be 
able to interpret its meaning for themselves, instead of be- 
lieving what the priests say as to what is or is not in the 
Bible. 

Some there are who believe that Christ will, come some 
day with sword in hand at the head of a procession com- 
posed of Rome's Popes and priests, and woe to those who 
do not bow the knee to the authority of Rome, But the 
Roman Church is not content to wait until Christ shall 
come to her aid, but has always used every possible means 
to keep her members within the fold and to force others in. 
Ignorance has been one of her most powerful weapons. 
Today wherever you find a Catholic community you find an 
ignorant one. Half the Catholics do not understand Rome, 
and the other half do not believe what they understand, 
though the Church spends time enough trying to teach the 
Catechism. But if a child should dare to question the prac- 
tices of the Roman Church, judging by the first command- 
ment, he would be threatened with ex-communication. I 
believe that many Protestants know more about the real 
teachings of the Roman Church than the majority of Ro- 



t6 

man Catholics do. Then compare the methods of the Prot- 
estant Churches with those of the Church of Rome.. 
There we find the Epworth League and Christian Endeavor 
Societies, the Sunday Schools, and the Young- Men'^ and 
Young Women's- Christiart Assoc iationSr all for the purpose 
of instructing young people in the teachings- af the Bible 
and the doctrines of the churches^ A premium is placed, 
not upon ignorance, but upon knowledge, 

Leo XIII says God has ordained that Chui-ch and State 
should be inseparable.. But what authority has- he to show 
that Christ interested Himself in earthly governments? 
Did He not rather make it very plain to his disciples that 
His kingdom was not to be an earthly kingdom? He did 
not even, fulfil the ho-pes of the Jews, wlio were expecting- 
a king both temporal and spirituaL Christ asked Peter. 
"Whom do men say that I. am,?"^ to which Peter replied,. 
"John the Baptist, But some say Ellas: and. others, one of 
the Prophets', Then said Christ, "But whom say ye that 
I am?". Peter answered, "Tliou art the Christ, the son of 
the living God": Then said Christ, "Thou shalt be called 
Peter (a rock), and upon this rock (thy faith) I will build 
my Church' ^ Thus the fotmdation of the Church of God. 
rests not upon. Peter, said to be the fii^st Pope of Ronie, but 
upon the faith of all. l^elievers, be they Catholic, Lutheran,, 
Baptist, Methodists or members of the Salvation Army or 
of any other Christian organization. The Roman Catholic 
cannot expect to become wi.se until he reads God's word for 
himself. The Catholic authorities give two reasons why the 
Bible should not be read, viz. , because the layman cannot 
understand it, or because it has not been properly trans- 
lated. Were not Luther's eyes opened to the truth as a re- 
sult of reading his Bible? Have not thousands of wicked 
man and women been led to seek God through reading the 
Bible? On the Foreign Mission fields do not the heathen 
learn what God is and what Christ has done for the world 
through the reading of the Bible ? Does the Bible teach a 
man to do right or to do wrong? Were not the Jews ac- 
customed to teach large portions of the Old Testament to 
young children? Does not the Apostle Paul say that one of 
the uses of the Scripture is ' 'for instruction" ? We also read. 



17 
"The entrance of Thy word giveth hght." Are we to sup- 
pose that all the wisdom of the world for the past twenty 
centuries has been centered in the clergy so that they alone 
are able to understand the message which God sent to men? 
The Bible tells us that, "the wayfaring man, though a fool, 
shall not err therein." 

Then as to the question of poor translation. The men 
who translated the Bible as it is circulated among Protest- 
ants were just as scholarly men as any that have worked to 
produce what the Roman Church chooses to call the only 
correct translation. Were Luther, Wy cliff, Erasmus, or 
Calvin inferior to Roman scholars? And did they not have 
access to all authoritative manuscripts as did the monks of 
the Church of Rome? When Rome saw that if the people 
read the Bible, they would all leave her, it was then that 
she sent out the word that the Protestant translation was 
not correct, and that her members should read only the edi- 
tion which she publishes, which has in it more of the say- 
ings of the Church Fathers than it has of the teachings of 
Christ. But Rome even discourages the reading of the edi- 
tion of the Bible which she publishes, preferring that the 
people shall get their knowledge of doctrine from the Cate- 
chism, and preferring that they do not get to know the ex- 
act facts of the life and teachings of Christ as related in the 
Word of God. Many a good Catholic believes that the do- 
ings of the so-called saints are recorded in the Bible just as 
much as are the deeds of the Apostles. 

The priests tell you that the Protestant Churches are too 
much like barns, and not fit to use for the worship of God. 
Christ said, ' 'Where two or three are gathered together in 
my name, there am I in the midst". Christ himself 
preached from the shore, from a boat, from a hillside, in 
the court of a house, in fact, wherever people were. The 
whole tendency of the Roman Church has been to make the 
service so stately and splendid as to overawe the people 
and attract some Protestants who may care more for the 
buildings and the robes, the incense and the images than 
for the real worship of God, who has said, "Thou shalt not 
bow down to them nor serve them" (graven images). But 
where one Protestant joins the Catholic Church, a hundred 



18 

Catholics leave it. Father Sherman worked hard in our 
city, trying to make proselytes of the Protestants, but I do 
not know of one Protestant who joined his Church. Many 
would go to hear him, esteeming it an honor to listen to the 
son of General Sherman, but they were not to be entrapped 
into joining his Church. 

To blind her people Rome says that Protestantism is a 
failure and that thousands are joining her Church. If 
there are some that join her, it is through marriage; but 
where one joins her, hundreds leave her. 

The following quotation is from the "Missionary Messen- 
ger", and gives an account o^ the relations of the Roman 
and Protestant Churches in France, where a great struggle 
has been going on for many years in the attempt to get 
from under the Roman yoke. 

SHORT HISTORY OF FRANCE AND ITS RELIGION. 

The Celts, the first settlers of France, were conquered 50 
B. C. by the Romans under Julius Caesar, and for 450 years 
Gaul, now France, was a Roman province. Missionaries 
were sent from Rome, and legend says that Lazarus and 
Mary were among them. 

The fall of the Roman Empire left the Gauls at the mercy 
of the fierce German tribes. Then came Attila with his 
fierce Huns, and the great battle of Chalons was fought in 
which the Gauls won. St. Genevieve, the patron saint of 
Paris, is honored as having saved the city from the Huns 
by her prayers and wise counsels. 

The Franks, under Clovis, soon conquered the other 
tribes and established the capital of the kingdom of the 
Franks at Paris. It is from these people that France de- 
rives its name. Clovis accepted the Christian religion of 
his wife Clotilda and made it the state religion. 

In 732 Charles Martel, "The Hammer of God," in the 
Battle of Tours, drove back the Moslem hordes and saved 
Europe from Mohammedan rule. 

In 800 Charlemagne was crowned Roman emperor of the 
West, and he united the scattered fragments of Europe into 
one settled government. 

Feudal France gave way to the monarchy, and the king 
ruled over alien peoples speaking different languages. 



19 

The Church was demorahzed and was largely a political 
organization. The crusades during the twelfth and thir- 
teenth centuries influenced for good both the Church and 
the government. 

The Papacy wanted to dominate the world and forbade 
churchmen to pay taxes to the state. "The monastaries 
became a papal army of occupation in every country, and 
the friars were from the first an international militia for the 
pope." The Catholic Church persecuted any who opposed 
the "teaching of the pope." 

The Albigenses no doubt protested against the errors of 
the Roman Church, and Innocent III proclaimed a crusade 
against them, and the cruel persecution lasted for many 
years, and their province was destroyed. 

In 1509 John Calvin, the leader of the Huguenots, was 
born. His teachings were more of a departure from those 
of the Roman Catholic Church than Luther's were. He had 
a large following, many of the nobility being among them. 
Persecutions arose which culminated in the Massacre of St. 
Bartholomew, in which it is said thirty thousand Huguenots 
perished. "The pope received the tidings of the massacre 
of St. Bartholomew with exultation, and ordered the most 
imposing religious ceremonies in Rome in gratitude for the 
achievement. The papal court of Spain and of the Nether- 
lands sent thanks to Charles and his mother, Catherine de 
Medici, for having thus effectually purged Prance of heresy. 
But Protestant Europe was stricken with indignation." 

Henry of Navarre, a Huguenot, accepted the Catholic faith 
to gain the throne, but endeavored to treat both parties 
fairly. In 1598 he proclaimed, "The Edict of Nantes," grant- 
ing liberty of conscience and freedom of worship to the Prot- 
estants. This edict was revoked by Louis XIV, thus closing 
their schools, forbidding their form of worship and imprison- 
ing many of their people. Two hundred thousand Hugue- 
nots left the country and settled in different parts of Europe 
and America, carrying with them the seeds of the Protestant 
faith. In this instance, as always, persecution helped to 
spread Christianity. 

The weak kings, the brilliancy of the court in contrast to 
the oppression of the people and conditions in the Church 



20 

precipitated the Revolution. The clergy held one third of 
the wealth of France and one fifth of the lands and lived in 
luxury and shameless immorality. The people paid tithes of 
even millet and potatoes, and fees were exacted for any 
service done. Education, nursing and all forms of charity 
were neglected. The State was bankrupted and the Church 
exempt from paying taxes. Is it any wonder that the Rev- 
olution broke out in such fury? Priests were hung up- 
on the lamp posts, massacred in the prisons, shot in the 
streets and driven in starvation from the kingdom. Over 
a million people perished, towns were destroyed, religious 
observances were ridiculed, churches closed and schools 
deserted. 

Order was brought about again by Napoleon Bonaparte. 
He did much for France, but although successful at first he 

'met his Waterloo,' and was banished to die an unhappy 
prisoner at St. Helena." 

In 1871 France was declared a republic for the third time. 
Since then the country has been at peace and she has again 
taken her place among the nations. 

In 1907 a decree was passed which separated the Church 
and State. All churches, Protestant and Catholic, had re- 
ceived state aid, but now must support themselves. The 
law required Associations cultuelles to be formed to hold 
Church property. All Protestant churches agreed to this, 
but the Catholics, advised by the pope, refused to form these 
Associations cultuelles and the republic took over as its 
own all the Catholic churches. The work and worship of 
the Catholics has not been interfered with, and as soon as 
they will comply with the law, the property will be return- 
ed to them again. 

THE FRENCH CATHOLICS AGAINST THE PAPACY 

About four years ago a number of priests associated them- 
selves together through the reading of the New Testament, 
in order to establish themselves and their congregation a- 
long new lines antagonistic to the papacy. They chose 
N. Meilon, the converted priest, who was at the head of 
the Paris Mission of Protestant converts. There are now 
300 such priests and as many congregations banded togeth- 
er into a league. They want separation from Rome, abso- 



n 

iQite independence to be tlie right of each church, yet feder- 
ation of allj establishment on the basis of the Gospel, per- 
fect liberty as to Rome's dogmas, and the substitution of 
Prench instead of Latin in public worship, and loyalty to 
the republic (Missionary Review, August, 1908,) 

On an average, 200 priests are leaving the Catholic 
Church every year, most of them unfitted for practical life, 
-A society called ^'Work for Priests" helps them to find em- 
ployment. They meet regularly for worship and fellowship. 
The Protestant Church of Prance is appealing for financial 
help to establish a home for these priests and to rent halls 
"where they can preach and help spread the Gospel. 

PRESENT RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN FRANCE. 

Prance, "the eldest daughter of the Church," is today a 
nation without a religion. An abbe says^ "Prance is no 
more Catholic, There are some thousands who have the 
religious habit, but the mass of the population is irreligious. 
No hope remains of a conquest by Rome," 

The Catholic Church claims but eight million out of its 
population of forty million. In some villages of five hun- 
dred not more than ten attend mass. Millions do not know 
the commonest truths of Christianity, There is not only 
this spirit of indifference to the Church but one of national 
revolt against the established Church. Many hate the 
Church, not only for the cruelties of the past, but for the 
attitude it has. taken against the republic. The teachings 
of the Jesuits and nuns in the schools were favorable to a 
monarchy, and this disloyal teaching led to the expulsion of 
the Jesuits and the breaking up of the convents. 

Prance is rapidly drifting into infidelity and Socialism. 
Evangelists tell us, that the free thinkers are more tyran- 
nical than the priests. While the attitude of the cities is 
largely socialistic and infidel, the country people are open to 
the truth and hungering for the Gospel. Here is a field of 
fully thirty million people without any church. What an ap- 
peal to Protestantism. 

PROTESTANT MISSIONS IN FRANCE, 

"In Prance everything which is expressive of moral 

strength is the work of Protestants." (Catholic Magazine.) 

The reformed or Protestant Church of France is largely 



52' 

composed of tlie spiritual descendants of the HTugnenots. 
For centuries they were under such severe restrictions that 
they were indeed "a hidden people, a wilderness church." 
At the beginning of the 19th centurj^ there were in Prance 
only sixty-eight Protestant churches, but today thei^ are 
one thousand, including the Old Reformed and Luthern 
Churches, Baptist, Wesleyan, Methodist Episcopal and 
union of Pree Churches. Tlie Protestants number 600,000. 
There is only one evangelical pastor to every 50,000 of the 
population. The number is inadequate for the work, but 
the Protestants are steadily gaining. 

The Bible is an unknown book in Prance. Many stores 
don't keep it. The Swiss colporteurs and others are doing 
a great work in selling Bibles and Testaments and in dis- 
tributing great numbers of tracts and rehgious leafl.ets. 

Rome claims that she is the only true cornerstone of 
Christ's teaching. But how can she claim to fairly rep- 
resent Him who said, "Tlie son of man is not come to de- 
stroy men's lives, but to save them"? If Huss got his 
teaching from the Bible, why did they not agree with the 
teachings of the Church of Rome? AVhy did not Luther 
try to enforce his teachings with the sword? He would 
not even accept the armed assistance which the knights 
offered him for his own protection. Had he wished, he 
could easily have stirred up Germany to armed revolt 
against the tyranny of Rome. 

We owe so much to the martyrs, the reformers such as 
Huss, Jerome, Berquim, Erasmus, Lnther, Zwingle, Calvin 
and thousands of others. Tliough they are dead, the truth 
still lives. In past centuries Rome held human life as of 
little consequence. Kings were powerless or were hand 
in glove with Rome. In the reign of Prancis I, 1524 to 1547, 
eighty death sentences were executed, in Paris alone, and 
in the space of six months there were one hundred and two 
put to death. Twenty-seven were executed, two were saved 
by becoming informers, and seventy -three escaped. In the 
districts of Meridol Cabrieres and Lea Costa three small 
towns were sacked and burned, three thousand persons 
were massacred, two hundred and fifty-five being executed 
subsequent to the massacre. After mock trials, six hun- 



23 

dred were sent to the galleys, many cMldren were sold as 
slaves and the rest were forbidden, under pain of death, to 
give aid in any form to any reformer. The priests will 
tell you that the Catholic Church has always been presecu- 
ted. How could the few reformers persecute the Church 
ivhich dominated a^lmost all Christendom up to about 1500? 
When a few brave souls saw the truth and began to tell oth- 
ers of it, then it was that they were cast into prison by the 
•Church of Rome, and those who did not recant were tortured 
•and killed. When they became strong enough in numbers, 
they did at times defend themselves, for which they cannot 
he blamed. But what a contrast we see today when the 
Protestants are in power. Were Rome today in power all 
over the world as the Protestant Church practically is, she 
would be using every possible means to wipe out the Prot- 
xestant Church. But today the Protestant Church, by its 
treatment of the Roman Church, is demonstrating that it is 
really following the teachings of Christ 

I could fill this book with accounts of the awful injustice 
of the Catholic Church, but you can read them in any good 
book of history. History is something with which every 
person should be acquainted. There are many bad books 
writterL, and children should take advice as to what books 
they should read, but one cannot do wrong to read any book 
of history, though there are some of them that the priests 
will forbid you to read, because they contain too truthful 
•accounts of some of the doings of the Church of Rome. And 
when one gets to be forty years of age, it is hardly neces- 
sary that some young priest shall undertake to decide for 
you what books you shall and shall not read. In books you 
will find the truth they withold from you. 



tke: komak chitrch ^ot the holy 
catholic church. 



Many members of the Roman Catholic Church very strong-- 
ly object to being called '^Roman" CathoMcs, declaring that 
they are Catholics- without the prefix. But by what right- 
do they ask to be called Catholic^ when they are not as; 
Catholic as Protestants are ? They are tied mind and soul 
to Rome, Rome is the center of the Roman Catholic Church- 
in every sense of the word, and there is no other church 
that is so narrow and bigoted. So that in reality they 
should not even be called the Catholic Church, and much. 
less the Holy Catholic Church which is made up of all true 
believers, of whatever church, 

Rome says that, after all, Luther died a Catholic, Yes, 
he surely died a Catholic, but not a Roman Catholic, 

"The word, 'Catholic', literally signifies universal. The 
phrase, Catholic Church is equivalent to universal Church, 
and can-not be properly applied to any particular sect or 
body such as the Roman, Ang^lican, Luthem, German, Re- 
formed, or Presbyterian, all of which form merely portions 
more or less pure, otf the universal Church. It occurs for 
the first time in the Pseudo Ignatian Epistle to the Smyr- 
neans. It was first employed about 160 A, D. to mark the 
difference between the orthodox universal Christian Church 
and the various sects of the Gnostic heretics, though 
afterward it served also to distinguish the all-embracing" 
Christian Church from the religious exclusiveness of the 
Pre-Christian ages in which the Church was restricted to a 
single nation." — Hill's Libraria, 

The Church of Rome does not even merit the name of 
Christian, for it is very pagan. Her priests are obliged to 



25 
preform rites which are nothing less than idolatrous. They 
must burn incense, pray before images and bow to Bishop 
and Pope, where as the first commandment says, "Thou 
shalt have no other Gods before me: thou shalt not make 
unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything 
that is in the heavens above, nor in the earth beneath, nor 
in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down 
thyself to them nor serve them." He is a jealous God, and 
knowing how prone man is to fall into such practices, 
has given us this plain and strict commandment. Yet, in 
spite of these words, the Roman Church continues to prac- 
tice rites which are a remnant of Paganism and abhorent 
to God. 

The Roman Church is not deserving of the name of Chris- 
tian because she does not at all follow the teachings of 
Christ, who said, "Love thine enemies and do good to 
them that persecute you." Rome considers all who are not 
of her fold to be her enemies, and proceeds to treat them 
not in a Christ-like way, but as though impelled by Satan 
himself. She has destroyed more lives by the sword than 
she has saved souls. Let me give a short account of one 
of her deeds, taken from Hill's Practical Reference Library. 
"Saint Bartholomew's Day is known as the day of the 
slaughter of the French Protestants, which began on that 
day, August 24, 1572 by secret orders from Charles IX at 
the instigation of his mother, Catherine de Medici, and in 
which, according to Sulley, seventy thousand Huguenots, 
induing men, women and children, were murdered through- 
out the country. During the minority of Charles and the 
regency of his mother, a long war raged in France between 
the Catholics and the Huguenots, the leaders of the latter 
being the Prince of Conde and admiral Coligny. In 1570, 
overtures were made by the court to the Huguenots which 
resulted in a treaty of peace. This treaty blinded the chiefs 
of the Huguenots, particularly the Admiral Coligny who 
was wearied of Civil War. The King appeared to have en- 
tirely disengaged himself from the influence of the Guises 
and his mother. He invited Coligny to his court and hon- 
ored him as a father. The most artful means were employed 
to increase this delusion. The sister of the King was mar- 



26 

ried to the Prince De Beam in 1572 in order to allure the 
most distinguished Huguenots to Paris. On August 22nd a 
shot was fired from a window, wounding the Admiral. The 
King hastened to visit him and swore to punish the author 
of the villiany. But on the same day, he was induced by 
his mother to believe that the Admiral had designs on his 
life. The following night, Catherine held the bloody coun- 
cil which fixed the execution for the night of St. Bartholo- 
mew, August 24, 1572. After the Admiral Coligny was 
basely slaughtered, a bell from the tower of the Royal Pal- 
ace at midnight gave the signal for the massacre. The 
Prince of Conde and the King of Navarre saved their lives 
by going to mass and pretending to embrace the Catholic 
religion. By the King's orders, the massacre was extend- 
ed throughout the whole kingdom and the horrible slaugh- 
ter continued for thirty days. Spain has slaughtered as 
many or more. This was Rome's way of Christianizing the 
world. King Charles IX danced to the tune of his mother 
and the pope. His mother was a niece of Pope Clement 
Vn. The thirty years' war was mainly due to her and the 
Jesuits." 



THE JESUIT ORDER. 



The Society of Jesus, now known as the Order of the Jes- 
uits, was founded in the year 1534, by Don Inigo Lopez de 
Loyola, a young Spanish nobleman, who had first taken up 
the profession of arms. Owing to severe wounds and slow 
recovery he was led to think upon religious subjects and 
soon became an enthusiast. After various experiences, a- 
mong which was a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, he eventually 
went to Paris to study, and while pursuing such studies 
formed the society which he called the Society of Jesus. Its 
object was to make a missionary propaganda, and it was the 
hope of the church that it would be an e:ffective means of re- 
cuperating some of the losses which the Roman Church was 
then experiencing. They have always been known for their 
zeal and activity. At present they are in great favor with 
the Vatican, but have not always been. In almost all coun- 
tries they have experienced reverses and triumphs. Today 
they are growing in power in our own country, while some 
countries have excluded them, notably Russia and France. 
They stirred up the Thirty Years' War and were willing to 
have Germany laid waste in order that they might have sway. 
Ferdinand, a pupil of the Jesuits, brought them into Bohemia 
in order to more completely Romanize it. Thus that which 
was organized in order to build up the Church of Rome has 
done so largely through persecution and bloodshed. It was 
at the bottom of the Inquisition, that most terrible of all in- 
struments ever employed by Church or State. 

It was a sad misfortune to the people of any country whose 
ruler was educated by this order. What glorious and benef 
icent services might they have rendered to mankind, had they 
labored for the cause of light and justice. 



28 

The Inquisition was founded in the year 1200, by Father 
Dominic. In 1476, over 2000 persons were burned to death. 
Tlie burning usually took place on Sunday after Mass, be- 
tween Trinity and Advent. If the victim, at the hour of the 
execution, recognized the Catholic Church, he was strangled 
before being burned, but if he refused to accept the Catholic 
faith, he would be burned alive. In the Spanish Inquisition 
from 1841 to 1808, about 3200 were burned at the stake. It 
was abolished in Italy by Napoleon in 1808, but in some 
forms is still carried on in countries where the Roman 
Church is in power. One of the principal doctrines em- 
phasized by the order is that the end justifies any means 
whatsoever. Among the Mohammedans today there is a 
sect which is trying to do for the Moslem church just what 
the Jesuits have been and are trying to do for the Roman 
Church, and they resort io just as cruel and bloody deeds. 
Wherever the Mohammedan dares to do so, he will murder 
the Christian, and did the Jesuit of today dare, he would a- 
gain establish the Inquisition in order to destroy all who 
will not become Catholics. 



^'MY COUNTRY^' BOHEMIA, 



Bohemia is a small Kingdom, which now forms a province 
in the Austria Hungarian Monarchy, It has a population 
of about six million. Beet sugar, lace, woolen goods, pottery, 
porcelain and glass ware and beer are the chief products. 
The city of Prague is the capital, Bohemia was once num- 
bered among the important nations of the old world. From 
her came the first reformation. 

John Huss was born in Bohemia in 1373. He studied at 
the University of Prague, where he took the degree of Mas- 
ter of Arts in 1396, after which he began to lecture on The- 
ology and Philosophy. Prom 1401 he had been acquainted 
w^ith the writings of Wycliff and his denunciation of Papal 
indulgences and the Mass, Having been denounced as a Wy- 
cliffite, he was summoned to Rome, but refused to go. 
Later having boldly denounced certain acts of the Pope, he 
was interdicted, but appealed from the Pope to a general 
council. Meanwhile, deeming himself not safe in Prague, 
he retired to his native place, where he busied himself in 
w^riting on the six errors of the Church, attacking the doc- 
trine of Trans ubstantiation, the primacy of the Pope, Ab- 
solution by a priest, Unconditioned obedience to earthly ru- 
lers and Simony, which was exceedingly prevalent. At the 
same time he sets forth the Scriptures as the only rule in 
matters of religion. The approbation with which his wri- 
tings were received both among the nobility and the com- 
mon people increased the feeling against him, and he felt 
obliged to comply with the summons of the Council of Con- 
stance to defend his opinions. The Emperor, Sigismund, 
gave him a letter of safe conduct, but in spite of this be- 
cause he refused to recant from his teachings, he was thrown 
into prison, and after several public examinations, in which 
scant justice was done to him, he was sentenced to death 
and was burned at the stake. The Roman Church bitterly 
persecuted the followers of Huss, who were strengthened 




JOHN HUSS. 

A Bohemian religious reformer. He studied at the University 
of Prague, took the degree of Master of Arts in 1398, and beg-an to 
lecture on Theology and Philosophy. He made the Scriptures the 
only rule in matters of relig-ious belief, denounced the Papal Indul- 
gences, Masses for the dead and the auricular confession. He was 
summoned to appear at Constance to defend his opinions. The Em- 
peror Sig-ismund g-ave him a letter of safe conduct, but in spite of 
this he was thrown into prison and afterward burned at the stake. 




JOHN ZIZKA 

After the death of Huss, his followers took up arms in defense of 
their principles, and under the leadership of John Zizka, captured 
Prague, fortified Mount Tabor, and repeatedly defeated the troops 
sent ag-ainst them by SlgismuncL Zizka died in 1424, History calls 
him as great a A^arrior as ever lived. He commanded his army 
after he had become blind. 



82 

by Luther's efforts, and continued to grow in numbers. At 
one time they were so treated "that they took up arms in 
their own defense. At last the Jesuits were called in. In 
1Q27 Protestants were called heretics and had to choose be- 
tween , Romanism, death or exile. The majority chose the 
latter and a great exodus followed. 

Rotteck's "History of the World" gives the following ac- 
count of the events of that time. 

Ferdinand obtained by a majority of votes the crown »f 
the German Empire, which he ardently desired, whilst in 
Prague the Bohemian states declared that he had forfeited 
theirs, and chose in his place the elector of the Palatinate, 
Frederick V.; Silesia and Moravia, Upper Austria and the 
Protestant states of Lower Austria had entered into a 
general confederation with Bohemia, and Bethlem Gabor 
(Prince of Transylvania) marched victoriously through 
Hungarj^, The united enemies encamped again before 
Vienne, but they were forced to retreat by want and the 
inclemency of the weather; Bethlem Gabor concluded an 
armistice. 

The Emperor, however, could not have saved himself by 
his own power; the fortunate arch-house obtained, as at 
many other times, the assistance of foreigners. Soon an alli- 
ance was concluded with Maximilian, the politic and valient- 
duke of Bavaria, the head of the League, while Spain and 
the Pope promised subsidies and troops, and the most power- 
ful Protestant states in Germany, some "fehrough fear and 
corruption, others from hatred toward the Reformed 
Church — which was the case especially with the elector of 
Saxony — were withheld from taking the part of Fred- 
erick V. 

Thus Frederick was reduced in the hard contest which he 
had taken upon himself, to the inconsiderable power of his 
house and the forces of Bohemia. The inactive King James 
of England, more occupied with scholastic disputes than 
with the great political interests, did not support his son- 
in-law. Holland and Venice, Denmark and Sweden, al- 
though they acknowledged him king, offered no assistance. 
The elector of Saxony, John George, even declared against 
him, and occupied Lusatia. 



33 

King Frederick, too much addicted to pomp and pleasure, 
neglected preparations for defence; thus he was surprised 
by an army of 20,000 men, which appeared before the gates 
of Prague, under the command of duke Maximilian. The 
intrenchments of the Bohemians upon the White Mountain, 
which were scarcely commenced, offered no protection a- 
gainst the superior forces of the enemy. In the short space 
of an hour, Frederick's army was beaten and dispersed, his 
artillery taken, and all hopes vanished(Nov. 8, 1620). The 
palsgrave, with the principal Bohemian lords, fled; the 
capital and — following its example — the whole kingdom 
submitted to the victor. 

Frederick, after his defeat, fled to Brandenburg, then 
to Holland. Here he was entirely defenceless; for his 
hereditary country, the Palatinate on the Rhine, was con- 
quered also by the Spaniards under Spinola, and the Upper 
Palatinate by Maximilian, of Bavaria. 

Ferdinand abused his victory and thus lost its fruits. In 
the first place a severe vengeance was taken on Bohemia. 
A large number of the principal rebels, without distinction 
of rank, were arrested and executed; the absent were 
condemed as guilty of high treason, their fortunes were 
confiscated and even the dead rebels were plundered. More 
than 30,000 families were forced to emigrate, and, it is 
asserted, Protestant property to the amount of $54,000,000 
was confiscated. Then the religious privileges, which had 
been granted to the Protestants, were abolished and the 
"Brief of Majesty" annihilated. 

Lodge in his History of Nations, says: On June 21, 1621, 
before the city hall of the old town, twenty-seven of the 
principal leaders were put to death. Among them was the 
rector of the University of Prague, Jensenius, who had been 
condemned to be quartered, but whose sentence was com- 
muted to having his tongue cut out. Some were beheaded, 
others were hanged; all died heroically confessing their 
faith. The heads of the victims were exposed on the 
tower of the bridge of Prague. This day was for Bohemia 
what later on the bloody day of Eperies was for Hungary. 
On the following day the punishments decreed for those 
who had not been cendemned to death and torture were pro- 



34 

nounced; they were flogging, banishing and imprisonment. 
The property of the victims was confiscated to the king, his 
generals, and courtiers. To these persecutions Ferdinand 
put an end in 1622 by a mandate under the name of a gener- 
al pardon, a document which affords us a measure of his 
clemency. All those who had taken part in the revolt, the 
pardon says, deserve to be punished both as to their lives 
and their goods; but the emperor in his mercy pardons them 
as to their lives, contenting himself with the confiscation of 
their property if they consent to recognize their faults. 
Seven hundred and twenty -three lords and knights accept- 
ed this mockery of an amnesty which left them either par- 
tially or completely ruined. 

A priest once asked me why it was that the Bohemian 
people were forsaking the Roman Church, and what it was 
that she had done. I replied that she has persecuted, tor- 
tured and murdered her best people. I do not blame my 
people because under the leadership of John Zizka they took 
up arms and fought for their rights for many years until 
they were obliged to submit to Rome. Since that time the 
heart of Bohemia has been bleeding for her leaders. The 
result has been that many have turned from God, and some 
of them in despair and sorrow have become users of strong 
drink. For this I am grieved. There is no use to sorrow for 
those who died such glorious deaths. After the death of 
Christ, the apostles did not act thus, but went out joyfully 
to proclaim the truths He had taught them. The work of 
the martyrs still lives, and Huss, Jerome and hundreds of 
others would blush with shame on seeing the course that 
some of our people are taking. 



QUESTIONS SENT TO FATHER SHERMAN 



While Father Sherman was located in Fort Dodge for the 
purpose of doing mission work and explaining to his people 
the Roman Catholic teaching, the writer sent him a number 
of questions which he requested him to answer. He an- 
swered them in a very evasive way, as any priest would 
have to do. I challenged him to prove the truth of his 
statements, and considered that it was his duty as my spir- 
itual adviser to show me where I was in the wrong if I was 
in error. But this he never did, and so I question the pow- 
er which he claims to possess as a priest. 

As no one has ever answered my questions I purpose to 
answer them myself to the best of my ability, in the follow- 
ing pages. 

QUESTION I. Did not the Catholic Church at the time 
of Leo X charge money for forgiving sins? Was that not 
one of the causes of the Reformation? Has not the Church 
been losing members ever since? 

ANSWER. The best reply I can discover is to be found 
in the writings of Luther. He tells us that in the year 1513 
Leo X became Pope. He was a Prince of unusual training, 
a lover of art, but more of a heathen than a Christian, for 
he had a keener relish for the statues of Venus and Apollo 
than for those of the saints. The courtiers and women of 
his court indulged in all kinds of excesses, and Leo joined 
with them. He believed the Church to be a very lucrative 
business, and said with a sneer, "This fable about Christ 
brings in a great deal of money", and he would laugh to see 
the German pack horses come bringing the sacks of gold 
from across the Alps. But he had need of a great deal of 
money. For the supposed purpose of levying war against 
the Turk, he levied a heavy tithe upon Christendom, and 



36 

lined his own pockets well. His ambition was as great as 
his covetousness. His predecessor, the stern soldier, Jul- 
ius n, had begun the erection of Saint Peter's Church at 
Rome, and Leo purposed to rear such a temple as would 
forever perpetuate his fame. Accordingly he proclaimed a 
general and gracious indulgence. Every Christian was 
summoned to take part in it, for its object was to prepare 
a suitable place of repose for the bones of the apostles. 
As it was too severe a task for people to travel from Ger- 
many to Rome, Albrecht, the elector and Archbishop of 
Mayence carried on the sale of indulgences there. Albrecht 
like the Pope, loved money and was deeply in debt and 
hoped to secure a large revenue for himself. So he ap- 
pointed commissioners and instructed them to proclaim to 
the people that the indulgences now were to consist of four 
distinct blessings, viz: first. Perfect forgiveness of sins 
and deliverance from purgatory; second, A letter of con- 
fession that would permit the bearer to choose his confessor 
who would be obliged to absolve his oifences; third, A 
share in the superabundant merits of the Church; fourth. 
The full forgiveness of the sins of those who are suffering 
in purgatory. 

The Commissioners went briskly to work. Among them 
was John Tetzel, a Dominican monk, who had had some 
previous experience in the matter of indulgences, and was 
no novice in iniquity. For the crime of adultery he was 
nearly put to death. He went from country to country 
with the air of an ambassador from Heaven. When he 
neared a town, the clergy and the town council would come 
out to meet him, singing as they came. Bells were rung 
and the great organs were played. On entering a church, 
he would put up a high red cross bearing the Pope's coat 
of arms. There he would stand day after day, extolling 
his wares, promising complete forgiveness of sins to every 
one who would throw money into the box. If a man wish- 
ed to do a favor to the dead, he had but to put money in 
the box and the soul would at once leap out of purgatory. 
Tetzel, as a speaker knew how to catch the popular ear. 
In the autumn of 1517 he came to Wittenburg. Here, as 
elsewhere; he sold grace for gold, and said that the merits 



B7 
^of the gold equalled the cross ol Christ. He said he was 
:saving more souls by his indulgences than Saint Peter did 
by his preaching. 

At this time, Martin Luther began to preach against Tet- 
:zel and his indulgences. It resulted in bringing Luther in- 
to conflict with the Pope, H« wns ut length tried at 
Worms. -As a result, a double ban was placed upon him., 
and special woes pronounced against any who should in any 
way aid him. But this was of little consequence, and whole 
provinces were finally won over to the teachings of Luther. 

Many people are in doubt as to just what is meant by the 
"word "indulgences", and many Catholic writers try to mis- 
lead the people as to just what should be considered indul- 
:gences- Webster gives the following definition— favors 
:gr anted in the I^oman Catholic Church; remission of the 
punishment due to sin, granted by the Pope or the Church 
and supposed to save the sinner from purgatory; absolution 
from the censure of the Church and from all transgressions. 

To this I will add that it is practically a license to sin, 
•Granting or selling indulgences was one of the causes of the 
"first conflicts between Luther and the Roman Church, and 
we find that it is still practiced, only a little more slyly than 
it used to be. And in spite of these facts we find educated 
'Catholics upholding it. It is certainly a shame and disgrace 
to the socalled educated people of today. 

This is from Hill's Practical .Reference Library, Pope 
Alexander VI was born in Valencia, Spain. When he was 
hut twenty-five years old, his uncle. Pope Callixius III made 
him a cardinal, Hy bribery he paved his way to the Papal 
throne, which he obtained in 1492 after the death of Innocent 
VIII, Both the authority and revenue of the Pope being 
much impaired, he set himself to reduce the power of the 
Italian Princes and siezed upon their possessions for his 
own benefit. He was faithless and base. He sold indul- 
gences and set aside in his own favor the wills of several 
•cardinals. His excesses aroused the eloquence of Savonaro- 
la, who by pen and voice urged his deposition, but himself 
met death at the stake. 

It seems to me hardly necessay to go farther to prove that 
at the time of Leo X the Church was charging money for 



forgiving sins and that in Germany that was one of the 
important causes of the Reformation, and the Reformation, 
was the beginning of the turning of the people from Rome- 
Whole countries; which had been Cathohc came to be Protes- 
tant and are so today. The church still contintres to selL 
indulgences, only it does^ so much less openly. Today 
also in every Catholic country thousands of Roman Catholicsi 
are coming to understand what the Roman Church is, and 
are entering the Protestant Churches. In what have for 
centuries b^en considered the strongholds- of the Catholic 
Churchy the people are eagerly lis-tening to the truth as it 
is being taught from the Bible, 

QUESTION 11. Is it right to charge money for saying 
Mass or for praying for the dead? 

ANSWER. To begin with^ I do not believe that man has 
any business with the aiffiairs of the hereafter. God has 
given us this life in which to prepare for the future* and to^ 
help others prepare, and I do not believe that He wishes to 
have any interference as to the hereafter. We are told to 
confess Him here on earth, and Christ distinctly promises 
not to confess in Heaven those who deny Him on earth. 
And Heaven with its blessings is promised to those who are 
faithful upon earth, and not to those who can get into Heavem 
through some manipulation of the priests. 

But even were we to suppose that it was right to pray 
for the souls of the dead, and thus to get some of them 
released from purgatory, it is not right that the priests 
should ask money for doing this. If it is right to pray for 
for the dead, it is one of the duties of the priests. And if 
this is one of the duties of the priests, why do they expect 
to be paid money for fulfilling their obligations ? If priests 
exist for the purpose of doing good, and the people support 
them, why do they ask to be paid specially for so doing? 
If they are not getting large enough salaries, let them ask 
the people to supply their needs instead of demanding it of 
people at a time when they cannot and almost dare not 
refuse. I should look upon it as an insult if any man 
should ask me to give him money to pray for my child. 

QUESTION III, There were once two equally good men, 
who died at the same time. One was rich, while the other 



B9> 

iv^as poor. On account of the great wealth of the rich man, 
many masses were said for him by the priests, while for the 
poor man only a few prayers were said by his poor friends. 
Did God put a premium upon the rich man's money and take 
Mm to Heaven and leave the poor man to suffer in purga- 
tory? 

ANSWER. Good Catholics may say that special 
masses and prayers are said for the poor. But we read, 
""God looketh not on the outward appearance" and "There 
is no respect of persons with God", and we read in one of 
the parables uttered by Christ how the poor beggar after 
death was taken to the bosom of Abraham, while the rich 
man was left in torment from which there was no escape. 

Then too we are told that ^ 'the fervent effectual prayer of 
the righteous man availeth much" and we are also told, 
"Ask, and ye shall receive", and no where are we told that 
the prayer of the priest is of more avail than those of good 
men anywhere, 

QUESTION IV, Why does not the Roman Church give 
the communion in both kinds to the laity as Christ did? 

ANSWER. When Christ established this ordinance we 
read that he took bread and broke it and passed it to the 
disciples, saying, "take, eat, this is my body." Then ta- 
king a cup of wine, he passed it to them saying, "drink ye 
all of it, for this is my blood of the new testament which is 
shed for many for the remission of sins." "Do this in com- 
memoration of me." We are thus told to do it all in remem- 
brance of Him, and not to perform a part of our duty. Then 
in another place we read, "Except ye eat the flesh of the 
Son of Man and drink His blood, ye have no life in you." 
Thus Christ very plainly indicated that he expected his fol- 
lowers to partake of the communion in both kinds. But the 
priests say that since we are eating of Christ's body when 
we take the bread, we do not need to drink the wine in or- 
der to fulfil His commands. But in this the Roman Church 
has committed a great sin, the sin of idolatry in supposing 
that the bread is the real body of Christ and the wine is His 
real blood, and causing the people to kneel when the bread 
is elevated at the altar or when the Eucharist is taken 
through the streets. How could the disciples have been eat- 



ing of Christ's real body and Eave drunk His blood wbenHe 
was there and had not yet died? And if Christ said those. 
words about that which was nothings but plain bread and. 
wine, then we sTirely have no- right to think that in these 
days we partake of Christ's real body and thus^ become can- 
nibals, Whut a horrible thought T And yet such is. the- 
teaching of the Roman Church. But not half of the mem- 
bers understand it to be so-, and of those who so- understand, 
it, very few actually beheve it.. My wife is a strong behever 
in the Catholic Church, just as. I once was. I questioned, 
her one day as to what she believed the Eucharist to be and. 
she said it was a memorial of the death of Christ. She has^ 
the true view, but that is not the teaching of tlie Roman 
Church, much to her surprise. There are some doctrines, 
which the Church does not dare to make very plain, fearing: 
that the people will not beheve them, and would s^tone the- 
priests for having misled them.. 

Again Rome lays special stress upon the fact that she is- 
the one Church that has- come down direct from the apostles.. 
If this is so, why does she teach so many things which are: 
opposed to the apostles? The early church gave the sacra- 
ment in both kinds to its members, and the only reason why 
the cup is withheld, fi^om the laity is in order that the priests 
may be regarded as a more highly privileged class of 
people. They have taken the power to add to or subtract 
from Christ's teaching at their wilL 

QUESTION Y. Priests are now forbidden to marry- 
Up till about the year 400 were they not permitted to marry? 

ANSWER. According to history, Pope Sincius (385) was 
the first to order clerical celibacy. It was further extended, 
by Leo the Great, but the Church had great difficulty in en- 
forcing the lawy and it was not rigidlj^ obeyed until the 
time of Gregory VIL But in Protestant denominations the 
preachers are allowed to be married and it is felt that for a 
preacher to be married is a help to him in his work. Also 
in the Greek Church the priests are premitted to be married 
if they are married before they become priests. But if a 
married Roman Catholic wishes to become a priest, he is 
compelled to put away his wife, which is very cruel and 
unjust. It is also hard for a priest to be obliged to leave 



41 

the altar and be scoffed at in order to earn money to support 
his family. If a man chooses not to be married, that is his 
own concern, but to oblige men who ought to marry not to 
marry is to open the way for a thousand scandals which 
have come upon the Church during the years that such a 
command has been enforced. Let me tell my readers what 
the Bible has to say on this subject in the fourth chapter of 
Timothy, verses 1 to 3 — "Now the Spirit manifestly saith 
that in the last time some shall depart from the faiths giving 
heed to spirits of errors and doctrines of devils, speaking 
lies in hypocrisy and having their conscience seared with a 
hot iron; forbidding to marry and to abstain from meats 
which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving 
by the faithful and them which know the trath." 

It would be hard today to give a better description of the 
Church of Rome than is found in this and many other pas- 
sages of the Bible, written so long ago. 

QUESTION VI. The Pope occupies the position of a 
king rather than the lowly, humble position of a servant of 
the people. Can the Roman Church find in the teachings of 
Christ any ground for such a position? 

ANSWER. Very early the Patriarchs of the Christian 
Church began to intermeddle in the politics of the times 
and at times were rewarded for their services by gifts of 
lands or money. These formed the basis of the enormous 
wealth which the church still possesses, but which was 
much greater in the Middle Ages than at the present time. 
They finally came to have so much authority that they were 
given control of certain cities. This formed the basis for 
the temporal power of the Popes down to very recently. 
They came at last to try to control the politics of the entire 
world, and made and unmade Kings and Emperors, and were 
themselves as powerful as Kings and even exacted in some 
countries the same homage and obedience as is exacted by a 
King. It has been only a generation since Italy has been 
ruled by her own King instead of by the Pope. In order 
to strengthen themselves in their positions of temporal pow- 
er, the Patriarchs caused decrees to be made by councils 
causing their persons to be looked upon as little short of di- 
vine. How different was the meaning of Christ when he 



42 

said to Peter, "Upon this rock (thy faith) I will build my 
Church, and the gates of hell saall not prevail against it." 
How different the pomp and display of robes and jewels 
which the Pope makes as compared with the lowly Master 
riding in triumph on a mule into Jerusalem. 

QUESTION VIT. Would it not be better for our priests, 
while preaching or praying, to use one word in a known 
tongue than thousands of words in an unknown tongue? 

ANSWER. This question is one of great concern to the 
Church. Except for the few sermons that are preached, the 
services are conducted in the Latin tongue. It has probably 
occured to all intelligent Catholics to wonder why it was 
that such was the case, but most of them are afraid to ask 
questions of the priests and even if they do, they do not 
often get a satisfactory answer. But I would like to ask 
why it is that the use of the Latin has been retained until 
this age, and what good is accomplished by it? Back of 
that is another question, namely, what is the reason for 
having services in the churches? That seems easy to an- 
swer, for every one understands that the services are con- 
ducted in the churches in order to help men and women 
understand more about God and how to live. If that is 
granted, then I want to ask if the use of the Latin language 
helps people to know more about God, or helps them to live 
better lives? If it does not, then it has no use, but on the 
contrary it is a sin to use ib, for it prevents people from 
getting what they come to the churches to get. 

There are several excuses which the priests offer for the 
use of the Latin. One excuse is that it makes the service 
of the Church uniform in all parts of the world and at all 
times. They say that thus a Catholic can enjoy the service 
no matter of what nationality he is or where he iS; That is 
perfectly true if one can be said to enjoy hearing a lot of 
sounds that he does not understand. But the priests say 
that one can buy a prayer book in which the prayers are 
all translated. If it is desirable that we should follow the 
prayers in our own language, why is it not as desirable that 
the priests should say them in our own language instead of 
using a language that no one uses today as a language, ex- 
cept as it is retained in the Roman Church? And if there 



43 

were no other reason for calling her the Roman Church, the 
fact that she retains the old Roman language in her services, 
convocations and councils would be reason enough. Why 
should not the apostles with equal reason have determined 
that the language of the Christian Church should be the 
Hebrew? Paul was able to do so much in founding the Church 
because he was able to use so many languages. 

The real reason for the use of the Latin is in order to 
help to maintain a stronger bond or feeling of fraternity a- 
mong the priests and to add something more of mystery to 
the services of the Church. In order that the young priest 
may be able to read the books of Theology he has to learn 
to read Latin well, and when he has learned it, they think 
he may as well make some further use of it as well as to 
humbug the people. While it is possible to buy prayer 
books in which the prayers are translated, yet there is much 
that the priest says that is not to be found in any of the 
translations, for there are things which they do not care to 
have the people know about. 

Far better would it be for the edification of the worship- 
pers if the priest should read in their language some verses 
from the Bible and then explain them, than that he should 
spend hours repeating Latin words, which have no meaning. 
But most priests are ignorant of the Bible, and more than 
that the Church wishes them to teach its doctrines rather 
than Bible truths. And in spite of so very evident a fact, 
her writers all insist that the Church has always favored 
the reading of the Bible, whereas the truth of the matter is 
that they have not hesitated, not only to imprison those 
who sell the Bible, but even to put them to death, and 
were it not for Protestant freedom the Bible would be a 
chained book today. 

QUESTION VIII. Can the Pope be infaUible? 

ANSWER. It is claimed that Peter was the first Pope. 
Was he infallible, judging either by his acts or his words? 
Peter was the one who thrice denied Christ. Peter said to 
Cornelius, who fell at his feet in humility, ' 'Arise, for I also 
am a man." Further proof is not needed as to the infalli- 
bility of Peter or of any of the apostles. 

If the Pope of the Roman Church is today held to be in- 



44 

fallible, why is it that such a fact was not discovered until 
about the middle of the last century? If the Pope is infal- 
lible, why have not all the Popes been so? We have but to 
read history to see that many of the Popes were as wicked 
men as ever lived, and obtained the Papacy through all 
kinds of trickery. Yet it is through the whole line of Popes 
that the Church of Rome claims to have received the pure 
word of God and right doctrines. I know that the claim is 
that the Pope is not under all circumstance infallible. But 
if he is infallible at all, why is that infallibility limited to 
certain occasions? Jesus Christ is the onlj^ man who ever 
was infallible, and is the onlj^ one in whom we can absolute- 
ly" trust. If we put our trust in an organization or person- 
- age, sooner or later we shall find that we were wrong and 
that they were unworthy. We are told, "Search the Scrip- 
tures, for they are they which testify of me." If we put our 
trust in God's word, we shall find an infallible guide. No 
man was ever so constituted that he did not make mistakes, 
and no matter how good a man is, God has to use a man just 
as he is and not as he wishes to be. Religion can touch 
the heart, but it cannot make over our mental structures, 
and every human being will make mistakes, no matter how 
careful he is. And the Pope is but a human being, like one 
of us and, like us, answerable to God. 

When we bow before the Pope or Bishop, and kiss hand 
or foot, as is sometimes the case, we are breaking the first 
commandment. And this practice is still very common in 
many countries. 

Our Bohemian people, at the time of Huss, established a 
creed in which they called each other brothers, which was 
right, for we are all children of God and equal in his sight. 

I want to show by some quotations how fallible some of 
the Popes were. I take this from Hill's Practical Reference 
Library. 

"Under Gregory XI, five thousand persons were destroy- 
ed. Even children were not spared. Infants were seized 
by the feet and their brains dashed out against trees. At 
one time there were three Popes. After the election of Ur- 
ban VI, the cardinals claimed that the Holy Spirit had made 
a mistake in electing Urban and they declared the election 



mull and void. They fhen chose tlie cardinal of Geneva, 
'Clement VIL The question is not yet today settled which 
-of these was the true Pope, For forty years things went 
:along this way, the Popes excommunicating one another. 
Upon -the death of Clement VII, the cardinals at Avignon 
•chose Benedict XIIL The University of Prance, disgusted 
with this state of things, refused to recognize either as le- 
gitimate Popes. The discontent became so general that 
;the cardinals, to rescue the Church from ruin, convoked a 
;general coun.cil at Pisa and summoned both Popes to appear 
ibefore them. This was a new experience for God's Popes 
and they both refused to appear. Whereupon, the council 
«of Pisa, consisting of cardinals and numerous prelates from 
;all parts of Christendom, aided by ambassadors from most 
of the crowned heads of Europe, deposed both Popes, Then 
they elected the cardinal of Milan with the title of Alexan- 
der V. There were now three popes, Benedict VIII, Greg- 
ory XII and Alexander V, 

Benedict XII, with three cardinals who adhered to him-, 
convoked a council of his partisan clergy at Perpignam, a 
,:gloomy fortress on the frontier of Spain, Gregory XII, 
with four cardinals and the prelates who rallied around him 
met at Ravenna, Italy. The three popes then proceeded to 
liurl bulls of excommunication at each other. The several 
powers of Europe ranged themselves on different sides and 
grasped their arms. War followed, Alexander V, through 
many bloody battles, established himself at Rome. In less 
than a year he died and a cardinal of disgraceful character 
succeeded him, with the title of John XXIIL The shame- 
ful struggles of the Popes still continued, desolating wide 
realms of Europe with conflagration and carnage. The 
Emperor Sigismund, of Germany, undertook to terminate 
the strife in several personal interviews with John. He 
compelled him to summon a council of the clergy of Chris- 
tendom in the imperial city of Constance. The Pope and 
the Emperor in person attended this famous council and 
there was a gathering of ambassadors from nearly all the 
principalities and states in Europe, This memorable coun- 
cil was composed of twenty cardinals, one hundred seven- 
teen patriachs and bishops, six hundred ecclesiasts of next 



m 

lower rank, and four thousand priests.. There were also 
twenty-six princes and one hundred forty counts. John. 
XXIIIy finding that the council was on the eve of deposing; 
all three poi>es, iled from. Constance in the disguise of a. 
groom and threw himself upon the protection of Fredrick.^ 
Duke of Austria.. But a division of the imperial army cap- 
tured him and brought him. back a prisoner to Cons-tance.. 
Gregory VII, alarmed, by this- example, threw down both 
the tiara and keys, and. was thankful to retain the office of 
cardinal. Benedict XIII was- sustained by the power of 
Spain, but soon found himself constrained to y^eld. The 
three rival Popes were deposed by the council ^ and a new 
Pope was chosen, Otho- Coluna, who assumed the title of 
Martin V. 

The Directorate of Paris was exceedingly reluctant to- 
array itself against the Papal government, for Cathol- 
icism was then one of the mightiest forces in EuTope and 
the Pope could arouse all the religious fury against Prance. 
But on the tenth of Pebruaiy 1798, General Berthier; at the 
head of a large EYench army, entered the gates of Rome, 
It was in vain for the Pope to attempt any resistance. He 
was alone, abandoned and helpless in the Vatican. Mes- 
sengers were sent, demanding his abdication of the tempo- 
ral sovereignty, with the promise that there was no inten- 
tion to meddle with his spiritual authority. He persistent- 
ly refused to abdicate. At night he was taken by the French, 
though scrupulously treated with respect due to his station, 
and age. He was conveyed from the Vatican into Tuscany, 
where he was imprisoned in a convent. From thence he 
was taken to France, where he died at Valence in August 
1799. 

Pius VII was exceedingly desirous for the restoration of 
his temporal power that he might be recognized as a tem- 
poral Prince as well as the head of the Church, He was 
ceaseless in his importunites to Napoleon to grant him 
territorial aggrandizement. Napoleon wrote to the Pope, 
*'Your situation requires that you should pay me the same 
respect in temporal as I do you in spiritual matters. You 
are sovereign of Rome, but I am its Emperor." The Pope, 
claiming that he was an index)endent sovereign, claimed the 



iright, powerless as lie was, of throwing open li'is ports to the 
^enemies of France. Napoleon, wishing earnestly to be on 
good terms with his Holiness, proposed as the basis of an 
a^rrangement between the two governments, first that the 
ports of the Papal states should be closed -against English 
;ships when Prance -and England were at war. Second, that 
when a hostile force was menacing the coasts., the Papal 
fortresses should be occupied by French troops. The Pope 
Tefused these terms and Napoleon wrote the following let- 
ter: "So the Pope persists in his refusal. He will open his 
*eyes when it is too late. What would he have? What does 
lie mean? Will he place my kingdom under spiritual inter- 
dict? Is he ignorant how much times have changed? Does 
he t-ake me for a second Louis Le Debonnaire and does he 
believe that his excommunications will make the weapons 
fall from the hands of my soldiers? What would he say if 
I were to separate from Catholicism the greater part of Eu- 
rope? I should have a better reason than did Henry VIII." 
It was one of the first principles of Napoleon that perfect 
freedom of conscience in religious worship should prevail. 
In May 1809, Napoleon issued a decree declaring that as the 
Pope refused an alliance with France and that as the safety 
of France demanded that an unfriendly power should not be 
left in Italy, the Papal states were annexed, a part to the 
kingdom of Italy and a part to the Empire of France. The 
Pope, thus deprived of his temporal power, was granted an 
annuity from France of $4,000,000 a year for his personal 
expenses. The city of Home, said this decree, so interest- 
ing from its recollections as the first seat of Christianity, 
Is declared an imperial and free city. The Pope immedi- 
ately issued a bulJ of excommunication against the Emperor, 
Napoleon sent Murat from Naples with a battalion of 
troops, seized the Pope and conveyed him a prisoner first 
to Savona and then to the palace of Fountainbleau in 
France. Here the pontiff remained in gorgeous captivity 
until the downfall of Napoleon in 1814, one of the worst 
misfortunes that Europe ever sustained. It was a sad day 
for France and for all of Europe that Napoleon lost the day 
at Waterloo- It is claimed that Italy had never been so 
prosperous and happy as under the reign of Napoleon. 



If the downfall of Kaporeon was ever regretted in any palt^- 
©f the world J it was in Italy. 

Nothing good has- ever come of Rome.. The last few- 
years she has been very hum.ble. Why? Because she has^ 
lost her power. Nations- ha.ve to^n. her to^ pieces.- The re- 
formers* oi today and- yesterday are cleaning' her house. It 
was- in 1870 that Pope Pius. IX. desperately resisted being 
deprived of his- power. If he had scrambled half so hard 
for Peter's- f aith^ the rock,, the keys,-, he w^ould not have lost- 
his power. Italy is. naw enjoying peace and. freedom tO' 
worship her God- acccording to the Holy Word. As the Pope: 
can nof lc«iger control armies- and politics- so- he can, no long- 
er hold the minds* of men in s.ubjection. 

TAKEN FROM HISTORY OP ITALY 

Written by John S-, C. Abbott. 

After the death of Frederick- II and. Conrad. IV in the year 
of 1254, Pope Innocent IV got to be powerful. He raised, 
an army and marched into the Wapolitan Provinces and. 
forced all the Bbrbons to take the oath of allegience to the 
Holy See^ Just then death overcame the Pope. There 
was a sable hearse, nodding plumes-, waxen tapers., proces- 
sions of ecclesiasts, the imposing robes of the Churchy 
chants and requiems and Innocent IV^ in the darkness and. 
silence of the tomb, was left to be forgotten, while the in- 
sane strife, pride and ambitious war raged in the sunhght 
without any check, Rome was a den of robbers- The pop- 
ulace was ignorant, fanatical and bloodthirsty. 

QUESTION IX.. Did not Rome persecute and bum re- 
formers at the stake and would she not do so were she in 
power today? Did not Christ teach his- disciples not to use 
force in proclaiming the truth, but to be harmless as doves? 
Ought not the Church of Rome to be reformed in order to 
put it in accordance with the teachings of Christ? 

ANSWER, Let me quote from D' Aubigne's History of the 
Reformation. The Inquisitors of the Low Countries, thirst- 
ing for blood, scoured the country, searching everywhere 
for the young Augustine monk who had escaped from the 
Antwerp persecution, Esch, Voes and Lambert were at 
last discovered, put in chains and led to Brussels. They 
were summoned into the presence of the inquisitors. "Do 



49 
you retract your assertion," asked Hochstraten, "that the 
priest has not power to forgive sins, and that it belongs 
to God alone?" He then proceeded to enumerate other ev- 
angelical doctrines which they were called upon to abjure. 
"No we will retract nothing," exclaimed Esch and Voes 
firmly; "we will not deny the word of God: we will rather 
die for the faith." 

THE INQUISITOR— "Confess that you have been led a- 
stray by Luther." 

THE MONKS. "As the apostles were led astray by Je- 
sus Christ." 

THE INQUISITORS— "We declare you to be heretics, wor- 
thy of being burned alive, and we give yoa over to the 
secular arm." 

Lambert kept silence; the prospect of death terrified him; 
distress and doubt tormented his soul. "I beg four days' 
respite," said he with a stifled voice. He was led back to 
prison. As soon as this delay had expired, Esch and Voes 
were solemnly deprived of their sacerdotal character and 
given over to the council of the governor of the Low Coun- 
tries. The Council delivered them, fettered, to the execu- 
tioner. Hochstraten and three other inquisitors accompa- 
nied them to the stake. 

When they came near to the scaffold, the young martyrs 
looked at it calmly; their firmness, their piety, their youth 
drew tears even from the inquisitors. When they were 
bound, the confessors approached them. "Once more we 
ask you if you will receive the Christian faith." To this 
they replied, "We believe in the Christian Church, but not 
your Church." 

Half an hour elapsed. The inquisitors hesitated, and 
hoped that the prospect of so terrible a death would intimi- 
date the youths. But alone tranquil in the midst of the 
turbulent crowd in the square, they sang psalms, stopping 
from time to time to declare boldly, "We will die for the 
name of Jesus Christ." "Be converted, be converted," cried 
the inquisitors, "or you will die in the name of the devil." 
"No," replied the martyrs, "we will die like Christians and 
for the truth of the Gospel." 

The pile was lighted. While the flames were ascending 



50 

slowly, a heavenly peace filled their hearts, and one of them 
went so far as to say, "I seem to be lying on a bed of roses." 
The solemn hour was come; death was near; the two martyrs 
cried with a loud voice, "O Lord Jesus, Son of David, have 
mercy on us." Then they began to solemnly repeat the 
Apostles' Creed. At last the flames reached them, burning 
the cords that fastened them to the stake, before their breath 
was gone. One of them, taking advantage of this liberty, 
fell on his knees in the midst of the fire, and thus worship- 
ping his Master, exclaimed, clasping his hands, "Lord Jesus, 
Son of David, have mercy on us." The flames now sur- 
rounded their bodies; they sang the Te Deum; soon their 
voices were stifled and nothing but their ashes remained. 
The execution lasted four hours. It was on July 1, 1523 
that the first martyrs of the Reformation laid down their 
lives for the Gospel. 

In another place the same author says — 

One Gaspar Tauber, a citizen of Vienna, had circulated 
Luther's writings, and had even written against the invoca- 
tion of saints, purgatory and transubstantiation. Being 
thrown into prison, he was summoned by his judges, both 
theologians and lawyers, to retract his errors. It was 
thought that he had consented, and every preparation was 
made in Vienna to gratify the people with this solemn 
spectacle. On the festival of the Nativity of Saint Mary, 
two pulpits were erected in Saint Stephen's cemetery, one 
for the leader of the choir, who was to extol in his chants 
the repentance of the heretic, the other for Tauber himself. 

The formula of recantation was placed in his hands. The 
people and chorister waited in silence. Either because 
Tauber had made no promise, or that at the moment of ab- 
jurgation his faith suddenly revived, he exclaimed, "I am 
not convinced, and I appeal to the Holy Roman Empire." 
Clergy, choristers and peoqle were seized with astonishment 
and alarm. But Tauber continued to call for death, rather 
than that he should deny the Gospel. He was decapitated 
and his body burnt; his courage made an indellible impres- 
sion on the inhabitants of Vienna. 

At Buda, in Hungary, an evangelical bookseller, named 
John, had circulated Luther's New Testament and others of 



51 
his writings throughout that country. He was bound to a 
stake; his persecutors then piled his books around him, en- 
closing him as if in a tower, and then set fire to them. John 
manifested unshaken courage, exclaiming from the midst of 
the flames that he was delighted to suffer for the cause of 
the Lord. "Blood follows blood," cried Luther, "but that 
generous blood which Rome loves to shed, will at last suffo- 
cate the Pope with his kings and their kingdoms." 

Fanaticism grew fiercer every day; evangelical ministers 
were expelled from their churches; magistrates were banish- 
ed; and at times the most horrible punishments were inflect- 
ed. In Wurtemburg, an inquisitor named Reichler caused 
Lutherans, and above all, the preachers, to be hanged upon 
trees. Barbarian ruffians were found, who unfeelingly 
nailed the pastors to posts by their tongues, so that these 
unhappy victims, in attempting to regain their liberty, were 
terribly mutilated and deprived of the gift which they had 
long used to proclaim the Gospel. 

John Lord in "Beacon Lights of History," writes as fol- 
lows — 

But the first thing that she (Mary) does is to restore the 
Popish Bishops — for so they were called by historians; the 
next thing which she does is to restore the Mass, and the 
third, to shut up Cranmer and Latimer in the Tower, attaint 
and execute them, with sundry others like Ridley and 
Hooper, as well as those great nobles who favored the 
claims of the Lady Jane Gray and the religious reforms of 
Edward VI. She reconciles herself with Rome and accepts 
its legate at her court; she receives Spanish spies and Jesuit 
confessors; she marries the son of Charles V, after Phillip II; 
she executes Lady Jane Gray; she keeps the strictest watch 
on the Princess Elizabeth; she forms an alliance with Spain; 
she makes Cardinal Pole Archbishop of Canterbury; she 
gives almost unlimited power to Gardiner and Bonner, who 
begin a series of diabolical persecutions, burning such people 
as John Rogers, Sanders, Doctor Taylor Hadley, Wilson 
Hunter, and Stephen Harwood, ferreting out all supected of 
heresy, and confining them in the fowlest jails, — burning even 
little children. Mary even takes measures to introduce the 
Inquisition and restore the monasteries. Everywhere are 



52 

scaffolds and burnings. In three years nearly three hundred 
people were burned alive, often with green wood, — a small 
number compared with those who were executed and 
assassinated in France about this time by Catherine de 
Medici, the Guises and Charles IX. 

Let us look at the example of Christ himself. When taken 
prisoner He remarked that had He wished He might have 
called to His aid a myriad of angels. When He was spit up- 
on and buffeted, He took it all calmly. When a soldier 
dared thrust a spear into the side of God's son, no harm be- 
fell the soldier. The apostles were told not to resist when 
they were arrested. In the Epistles we read, "Follow peace 
with all men", "Be kindly affectioned one toward another, in 
honor preferring one another", "Pray for them which de- 
spitefully use you and persecute you." Indeed, all through 
the New Testament there is a spirit of kindliness for friend 
and enemy, which is and has been almost totally absent in 
the dealings of the Catholic Church with those who did not 
agree with her. 

She is not today accomplishing what God's Church should 
accomplish, viz., the salvation of human beings. She is 
more interested in acquiring influence in politics and in ac- 
quiring property, and building splendid cathedrals than in 
bringing mankind closer to God. She is more troubled 
about the number of people who are in the Protestant 
Churches than she is over the fact of the immorality that 
exists among her priesthood. Indeed, there is scarcely a 
town, even in this country, where you may not hear authen- 
ticated stories as to the misdeeds of the parish priest. And 
to a much greater extent is this true in the countries where 
Catholicism is the dominating religion, and is doing all it 
can to prevent Protestantism from getting into the countries. 
Let me give you some extracts from the report of the Com- 
mission which was sent by our government to the Phillipine 
Islands. This is part of the testimony of Senor Nozario 
Constantino. He said he was born in the Islands and was 
at that time living at Manilla. (Question) What political 
function did the Friars discharge before 1898 in the villages 
in which they were the parish priests? (Answer) They 
ruled the entire country. Everybody and every authority 



53 

had to be subservient to their caprice. (Question) Do you 
know what were the relations between the head of the Span-, 
ish Government and the head of the Church here? (Answer) 
The Governor General understood that he had to keep on 
good terms with the head of the Church, for he well knew 
that if he did anything that was displeasing to the Arch- 
bishop that he would remain but a short time in the Islands. 
(Question) What was the morality of the Friars? (Answer) 
There was no morality, and the story of their immorality 
would take too long to relate. It was a common thing to see 
Friars' children, and no man's wife or daughter was safe 
from them. 

The same things might be said of other countries today. 
In South and Central America the same things hold true. 
The priests run the lotteries, and are open gamblers, and do 
not hesitate to maintain concubines. 

There are large towns in the so-called Catholic countries 
where it is almost impossible for a Protestant to rent a 
house, and if he is a renter and ventures to permit a Prot- 
estant meeting to be held in the house, he will be obliged to 
move, though he may have a written contract. And a Prot- 
estant preacher can hardly ever rent a house in the major- 
ity of towns, unless he gets some one else to rent it, and 
sub-rent it to him. People who attend Protestant services 
are spit upon, and often have stones thrown at them. If by 
chance a poor Protestant falls sick and is sent to the hospi- 
tals, unless he will give up his religion and confess to the 
priest, as the nurses are usually nuns, he will be neglected 
and allowed to die, if he has not good friends who can look 
after him. I know a case of a woman who refused to confess 
to a priest. She was neglected and let die, and they would 
not even give her body to the friends who came and asked 
for it, but caused it to be thrown into a big hole in the ceme- 
tery, called the "pit". Surely this is not a Christian Church. 

I predict that in the next fifty 5 ears the Roman Catholic 
Church will lose much of its prestige. Even today there are 
only about twelve million members in this country. 

There are many doctrines and practices which she must 
abandon if she wishes to become a Church of Christ. Among 
the things she must discard are the following: 



54 

She must cease to ^ve to the Pope so much importance 
and honor and must take Christ as her Head, and the Bible 
as her guide. 

Her priests must cease to teach that they can forgive sins. 

She must remove images and pictures of saints from her 
churches and must not bow to them nor pray to them, but 
to God alone. 

She must not forbid her priests to marry. 

She must not conduct her services in an unknown lan- 
guage. 

She must not attempt to meddle in politics, nor hold in 
Rome the titles to all Church properties. These should be 
held by the congregations, subject to their will. 



I wish to call attention to a question that was given to 
Father Sherman by another man. It is "Why are there so 
many Roman Cathohcs in the prisons r" My reply to this 
is that Roman Catholics are not as good Christians as Prot- 
estants are. They do not draw the line as closely between 
right and wi'ong. Then they are taught that it is so easy to 
have one's sins forgiven. And they are not, as a rule, as 
temperate. Most of the liquor dealers are Roman Catholics 
and most of the priests use wine and beer, though in the 
last few years some of them have been talking against in- 
temperance. We remember the words of Christ, "By their 
fruits ye shall know them."" Then, too, the lax observance 
of Sunday and the loose way in which Catholics carry on 
theu' recreation tends to make them think less of the Church 
and of her teachings. AVhen people spend a large part of 
Sunday playing cards and billiards and drinking, they are 
not' making themselves any better. They might just as 
well be working at their daily tasks. Xothing has led 
so many people into crime as have cards and gambling and 
intemperance. Think of the widows and orphans by the 
millions who mourn today because of these curses. It is 
well that the police do not know of all the priest hears in 
the confessional. But this very confessional works harm to 
the individual and to the State, for after a man has com- 
mitted a crime and has found that the priest will forgive 
him if he will do a Uttle penance, he is less afi-aid to commit 



55 
the next crime. Thus the confessional serves to cover up 
and to encourage crime. Thus we have an explanation as 
to why there are so many Catholics who are inmates of our 
penal institutions. 

I have said in another place that most Catholics are in- 
temperate. I have actually seen a priest intoxicated while 
saying mass, and friends of mine have told me of priests 
who were so intoxicated that they fell right in the altar, a 
splendid example to set before their flock! As they have 
sown, so shall they reap. The Bible says that no drunkard 
shall enter heaven. Then how can a drunkard lead others 
into heaven, and be to them a minister of God? Parents 
who allow saloons to be wide open in our towns and cities 
and allow beer to be drunk in the home, will, with their 
children, reap what they have sown, when their daughters 
marry the boys who have been educated to drink. 



THE CONFESSIONAL 



Any Christain man or women can lead a sinner to God, 
but no man or women can forgive man's sins for God. 

If it were not for the practice of auricular confession, the 
Roman Church would not have the hold upon the poor ignor- 
ant people that she now has. By means of the confessional 
she is able to place more importance on Penance, and this 
gives an opportunity for the offering of indulgence by means 
of which one may escape having to do penance. 

If there is any one practice of the Church of Rome for 
which there is absolutely no basis whatever in the Bible, it 
is this one. Nowhere do we find any suggestions that it 
was intended that men should confess their sins to other men, 
however good. Christ on one occasion did forgive sins, to 
the astonishment and horror of the onlookers, who said that 
he was committing blasphemy. And well they might have 
thought this had He been other than the Son of God. How- 
ever, we must acknowledge that the custom of confessing 
to the priest began very early in the history of the Christian 
Church. But the whole tendency of Rome has been to en- 
courage the practice, for very early she recognized what a 
hold it gave her upon the people. She is thus enabled to 
keep track of all that her communicants are doing. Then, 
too, when one has revealed the secrets of his life to some 
one else, he has placed himself in the power of the one 
to whom he has made the revelation. This also gives Rome 
a controlling influence over her members. The priest in 
the confessional is able to give such advice that he knows 
will compel his members to do as the Church wishes them 
to do, not only in spiritual, but in temporal matters. 

When pressed for an answer, the Roman theologians will 
admit that in reality the priest does not forgive sins, that 



57 
he only stands between God and the sinner to make the 
confession easier. They will also admit that before the 
priest can absolve, penitence is necessary and that sin may 
even be forgiven by God without the act of confession to 
the priest. Nevertheless the poor people are made to un- 
derstand that in order that sin may be forgiven, they must 
confess to the priest, and thus God is put into the background. 

It is God against whom we have sinned, and not against 
the Church or her priests. Why then does the Church' try 
to have us believe that it is essential that the confession for 
all sin shall be made to her priest? Wlien I have wronged 
a certain person and ani sorry for what I have done, I do 
not go to some other person and try to make it right, but I 
go to the person 'himself and ask forgiveness. Why then 
should I go to a priest to get from him forgiveness for some- 
thing that I have done against God? Does God anywhere 
in the Bible teach me that I am to make confession of any 
sins to anybiie upon earth? In the' Psalms of David, which 
contain the deepest confessions of his heart, his cry for for- 
giveness is to God and not to the High Priest of his Church. 

The ' only ground thdt the Church of Rome 'attempts to 
find in the Bible as a reason for this practice, is the place 
where Christ said ' to liis disciples that whatever they loosed 
on 6arth shall be loosed in heaven, and whatever they should 
bind on earth, should be bound in heaven. It is not possi- 
ble to say just what Christ meant by that saying, but the 
Roman Church has takien the interpretation that the disciples 
had the power to loose men frotri their sins and to bind woes 
upon them. 

If the confessional is essential, then a great injustice is 
being done to a great many people. My mother, who was a 
Bohemian, and could not at that time speak English, once 
rode twenty miles to make her confession. When the priest 
learned that she did not talk English, as he did not under- 
stand Bohemian, he refused to hear her confession. If he 
but stands between God and the sinner in order to make the 
confession easier, then it ought not to be necessary that he 
know the language and understand all that is said. My 
mother could not make her confession because there was not 
a Bohemian priest within two hundred miles. And there 



58 

must be thousands of Catholics who are unable to make 
then- confession once a year as the Church says they must, 
for there are thousands in this country who can go to no 
priest who can understand theh' language. If then there 
are many who cannot go to the confessional, we must either 
say they are committing a great sin, or else we must say 
that if they are living right in God's sight and are not at- 
tending the confessional, then it is not necessary that any 
one should be obhged to make confession to the priest. 

The Protestant preachers pray for the people of their 
churches more than the priests pray for their members. 
If it is said that the priest absolves your sins when he prays 
to God for you, and God will hear him when he prays, then 
why will not God hear the Protestant preacher, and if He 
does hear him, then the sins of the Protestants are forgiven 
without their going to confessional. If that is so, then it 
ought not to be necessary that Catholics should have to con- 
fess. AVhat would be of more value and of real use would 
be if the priests were the holy men they ought to be, then 
by means of holy conversation they could touch the sinners' 
hearts and lead them to live better lives without having to 
relate to the priest every Httle sin that they had committed. 

Both theologians and priests insist that before sins can be 
forgiven, repentence is necessary. Now if a man has re- 
pented of his sins, God knows it, and at the moment that 
the man repents, God forgives him, or else I do not read 
my Bible right. Now then, if a man has repented, and 
therefore God has forgiven him, what further need is there 
that a man should make confession to the priest? 

The confessional offers an opportunity for making light 
of holy things. The priests claim that the Protestants 
make the Bible common and a matter for jesting by reading 
it in public and before children who cannot understand 
many things in it. But what of the Confessional, when 
children wiU come from it and tell of the lies they have told 
the priest? I know that the priests will say that it shows a 
very depraved nature and that God will punish the child, 
but why place such a temptation before him? 

Then again, it is not very difficult to bring forward proof 
to show that there are very many priests who are ungodly, 



59 
wicked men. Neither is it difficult to secure proof of the 
fact that many young girls have for the first time been led 
to think of obscenities because of the suggestions made to 
them in the confessional. I know Catholic writers deny 
this, but facts, not theories, prove my statements to be true. 
I have the evidence of many who have been in the Roman 
Church, and have had statements made to me from the lips 
of those who are still in the Church. 

The object behind the whole thing is to give more impor- 
tance to the Roman priesthood, and to make the people hold 
the Pope and Priests as the head of the Church, in greater 
honor, thus overshadowing the Christ. Where did the doc- 
trine of penance come from? From the Bible? Where 
does Christ or where do the Apostles teach that we are to 
try to do anything in this life which shall be regarded as do- 
ing penance for sins committed? The whole scheme puts a 
discount on the meritorious death of Jesus Christ. If He 
died to save us from our sins, then He has paid the penalty 
for sin. And if the Church through the Priest says that 
God has forgiven the sin which we have confessed, how then 
does there remain anything for which we should do penance? 
This is but a doctrine of man's devising, a means by which 
we may be held in bondage to the priesthood, instead of 
going to Christ, the Great High Priest, who died upon the 
cross to obtain forgiveness of our sins, and who says, "Come 
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will 
give you rest." 

I have actually seen Catholics keep an account and before 
going to the Confessional, they would sit down and figure 
up the sins that they had committed, so that they might be 
able to give the priest an accurate description of them; and 
if by chance some had been forgotten, they were obliged to 
tell them at the next confession. Did you ever see such 
blindness? Did not our Lord say that He would blot out 
all our sins, though they were as big as a mountain and 
numbered as many as the sands of the sea? If we would 
only repent of them and say. Lord, forgive me, a poor sin- 
ner, of my sins! No one needs to tell God how many his 
sins are or how black they are; He knows them all. He 
knows our wicked thoughts, words and deeds; He has the 



60 

latest method of knowing them. He perhaps has a wireless 
instrument by which He gets to know all we do, and I be- 
lieve that He does not forget any of them or make any mis- 
takes. And then just as He gets to know all of our sins, 
He knows of the good deeds we do and keeps a record of 
them, over against the evil we do. 



BAPTISM 



When a person dies, one of the first questions that a Ro- 
man Catholic asks is, "Was he baptized?", as though that 
were the thing of greatest importance. According to Rome's 
teachings, no matter how good a life a man has led, he can- 
not be saved if he was not baptized, and on the other hand, 
no matter how bad a man has been, if he has been baptized 
and has received the rites of Extreme Unction, he is sure to 
go to heaven. But the worst part of the teaching is to re- 
fer it to children and to preach that an unbaptized chikl 
cannot get into heaven. It is true that Christ taught that 
it was necessary, "to be baptized and become as little 
children," but He did not teach that it was necessai-y for lit- 
tle children to be baptized in order to enter heaven, for, 
taking them in His arms, He said, "Of such is the Kingdom 
of Heaven." 

Even Rome does not teach that baptism alone can secure 
the forgiveness of sins, but that repentence is necessary be- 
fore baptism is administered. Even if a chikl had sinned, 
it could not repent of sin, and therefore the baptism of 
young children cannot secure forgiveness of sins. Accord- 
ing to Christ's teachings, they have no sins to forgive, 
neither is baptism necessary to make them fit subjects for 
for Heaven, There is only one reason for baptizing a child, 
viz., to put the seal of the Church upon its young life and 
do that much to start it out to live a Christian life. The 



61 

parents take npon themselves the responsibility that the 
Church lays upon them to do all that shall be necessary in 
order that the child may come to know the truth of the 
Bible and live a holy life. No right thinking parent believes 
that by having the child baptized, he has thereby made sure 
its enterance into Heaven in case of death, nor do the teach- 
ings of Christ or the apostles give any ground for any such 
belief. 

All Christians agree that Jesus and His apostles taught 
baptism, and that there is but "one Lord, one faith, one 
baptism" (Ephesians I, 5), but we can find nowhere in the 
scripture where infant baptism is urged. The words, "be- 
lieve and be baptized, " were spoken to an unconverted adult 
sinner. As such he had an understanding which infants do 
not possess. When an adult is baptized, a sinful man or 
woman, they are not only baptized with water, but they 
must repent of their sins and be baptized with the Holy 
Spirit, and be "born again," and begin to lead a new and 
better life. 

The New Testament very clearly teaches that repentance 
for sins must preceed the rite of baptism. After Saul met 
God on the road to Damascus and was sent by him to Annan- 
las, he was first baptized, but not until he had by fasting 
shown his sincere repentance for the wrong course he had 
been taking. When Phillip was riding with the Etheopian, 
the latter asked, "Here is water, why may I not be baptized?" 
To this Phillip replied, "If you believe with all your heart, 
you may be baptized." The Etheopian then said, "I be- 
lieve that Jesus Christ is the Son of God," and was baptized. 
When the earthquake shook the jail, and the jailor asked 
what he must do to be saved, Paul said, "Repent, and be 
baptized." Indeed so fundamental is this idea of repentence 
thought to be that there are some Protestant Churches 
that refuse to baptize any young children, because they can- 
not repent of sin and and take upon themselves the vows 
of faith in God and service for Him. 

Perhaps one reason why the Roman Church is so strongly 
in favor of infant baptism is the fact that if the priest bap- 
tizes a child, he must be paid for it. I believe that if there 
were no charge for this and the priests had to do it for 



62 

nothing, they would not be so insistant on doing- it. Since 
the priest receives his salary anyway, why should he be al- 
lowed to make a charge for doing the thing that every 
Christian feels the Church ought to do, such as to conduct 
funerals and weddings and baptisms , and to pray for the 
living or dead instead of having to be paid a couple of dollars 
every time he turns around? They do not seem to love the 
people, but they seem to love their money. 



OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, 



One of the first things which the first colonists did in 
this country was to establish schools, out of which has 
grown our present school system. It is based on the prin- 
ciple that every child needs an education and that it is the 
duty of the State to provide such an education. Very early 
in their history the schools were associated with the Church, 
not because our forefathers thought that it was the business 
of the Church to provide the education, but because the 
clergymen were at that time the best educated men in the 
colonies and were often the only ones fitted to act as school 
teachers. Hence it has never been the intention of the 
American people to force religion upon the children, but 
only to instill in the minds of the youth such principles of 
right living as were based upon the teachings of Christ and 
the holy writers. 

Rome bases her objections to the Public School on two 
grounds, viz., because of Protestant teachings and because 
of the very bad moral conditions of the public schools. 

In none of the public schools is Christianitj^ taught as 
such, nor is there any endeavor to teach sectarianism. 
Practically in most of the schools the only thing that is done 
in a religious line is to read from the Bible, to pray and to 
sing a hymn. To none of these does Rome object very 
much except to the reading of the Bible, and that is because 



63 

it is not well translated, or because diildren cannot under- 
stand it, and are therefore apt to make fun of it. Rome has 
no more scholarly men than those who translated the Bible 
now in use among the Protestant denominations. And 
whUe it is true that there are some parts of the Bible that 
children cannot well understand, there are parts enough 
that they can understand so that the teachers could always 
choose some part that could be understood. The real rea- 
son why Rome objects to the so-called Protestant Bible is be- 
cause there are some things in the Catholic Bible which 
are not in the other. There are some books in the Roman 
Bible, which the Protestant scholars do not think ought to 
be there. Then, too, in the Roman Bible are the quotations 
from the Catholic writers, interpreting the words of scrip- 
ture so they will always appear to uphold the practices and 
teachings of the Roman Church, no matter how far-fetched 
such a meaning may seem to one who is not looking for the 
truths of the Roman Church, but the truths of God as He 
meant that we should understand them. 

One has but to talk with boys who have been students in 
the Parochial schools, or listen to the testimony of ex- 
priests and nuns in order to get an idea of the corruption 
that exists in the said schools. The public schools are 
clean and sweet as compared with them. One has but to 
read such books as Father Crowley's ''The Parocial School, 
A curse to the Church, A Menace to the Nation", to get an 
idea of some of the conditions that exist in such schools. 
And the facts that he presents have never been disproved. 
Why have the people of Prance driven the nuns and their 
schools out of the country? I know that in one of the coun- 
tries of South America one of the orders of priests was 
nearly driven out of the country and an attempt was made 
to separate the Church and State, owing to the awful con- 
ditions that were found to exist in the schools carried on by 
the priests of that order, and I believe that the Catholic 
people of this country would do the same thing if they were 
to awaken to the situation and learn what are the moral 
conditions in most of the schools carried on by the priests. 

Our public schools are the places where our children are 
taugh loyalty to the government and the duties of a citizen. 



64 

In the Catholic schools the pupils are taught loyalty to the 
Pope and the Roman Church and the rites and ceremonies 
of the Church, instead of the duties and privileges of A- 
merican citizens. I do not see how a good Catholic, who is 
true to his Church vows can be a good citizen, for he must 
obey the Pope rather than any other power on earth. It 
does not seem possible that Protestant people can under- 
stand these things or they would not send so many chil- 
dren to the Catholic schools.^ The principal thing that the 
Roman Church wishes to teach in the Parochial school is 
the Catechism. Some one of the Roman authorities has 
said, "Give me a child for the first seven years of his life, 
and I do not care what teaching- he may receive after that, 
he will be true to the Roman Church." And during the time 
that children are attending the Catholic schools, more effort 
is made to teach them the doctrines of the" Roman Church 
than to teach them any thing else. And where the Paro- 
chial school is the only school in the neighborhood, you will 
find that it is a very poor school. Where they have good 
High Schools or good private schoolsin direct competitld'h: 
to them, they are triuch better in every way, for they know*' 
that they must be in order to get any patroiia^e/' Then th^ 
priests encourage attendance at the Parochial schools by 
making a difference in the way they treat the children who 
do not attend the Church schools, and wiU sometimes refuse 
to give them first communion. And in most coinmunities 
it is thought to be a venial sin to send children to the pubhc 
schools. In that way they manage to secure an attendance 
by force. 

One of the worst things that children leam in the Catho- 
lic Church schools is to gamble. Most of the priests gam- 
ble. I know of one school where the priests run a card par- 
ty once a month, and offer prizes. A large percentage of 
our criminals are Catholics and are gamblers. Who shall 
say that the card playing priests are not responsible for their 
being in prison? 

In the public schools one may know all that is going on. 
In the Catholic schools all is carried on with a great deal of 
secrecy. And where they are connected with a monastery 
there is great room for suspicion. A great many of the 



65 

nuns may be good, but they are ignorant and are so bound 
to Rome, that they dare not disobey what they are told to do, 
if we may at all believe the stories told by those who have 
broken away from Rome. And if their stories are not true, 
why are they not disproved? Why are these persons not 
tried for slander? - The priests of the Roman Church have 
a bad reputation, and live up to it, and when so many of 
them are so much about the monasteries, there is good rea- 
son to believe that things are not as they should be. Why 
should we uphold these institutions which in other countries 
they are trying to suppress. 

The business of a school is not to teach religion, though 
no good teacher will neglect to try to develop the moral 
life of the pupil, but this should be done more by example 
than by precept. How can a priest do that who will sit 
and drink beer or blow tobacco smoke in the faces of the 
boys and girls who visit him to be instructed, as they some- 
times do? Yet I know of such a case. A priest or a nun 
is too narrow minded to be a good teacher, and they are not 
expected to teach the things that will educate the children. 
The attitude which Rome takes toward books in general 
shows how the schools must be carried on. A man in Rome 
pretends that he has the right to say that there are certain 
books that I must not read. She would not have her mem- 
bers partaking in abundance of the good things which the 
fertile brains of our fellow beings have provided for our ed- 
ification. She would have us read only such as comply with 
the teachings of her councils. 

A child needs some religious instruction, but it should 
get that at home and in the Church, and not have it so tied 
up with secular education that the search in the field of 
knowledge is hindered by the undue amount of time spent 
in religious instruction. 

Let me give some quotations to show that the Roman 
Church is not opposed to our schools simply because they 
are not Catholic, but because she is an enemy of this govern- 
ment, desires to get into control and will do everything in 
her power to throttle the public schools because they teach 
loyalty to our government. 

The Catholic Quarterly Review says: We would rather 



66 

our children grew up in utter ig-norance than to be taught in 
a school that is not Catholic. Let the public schools go 
where they came from, the Devil. 

Archbishop Ireland said: We can control the country in 
ten years, if we can only get to teach the child. 

Cardinal Antonelli said : The Catechism alone is essential 
for the education of the people. I would sooner administer 
the sacrament to a dog than to Catholics who send their 
children to the public schools. 

Priest Walker said: It will be a glorious day for the 
Roman Catholics in this country when, under the laws of 
justice and morality, the public school system shall be shiver- 
ed to pieces. 

The Qatholic Telegraph saj^s: The public school system 
must be destroyed. It must be done by stopping Bible read- 
ing and Psalm singing. 

It would be impossible to find a more bitter hatred than is 
expressed in these sentiments. And yet we have the best 
school system in the world, and the Roman Church is fight- 
ing it simply because she cannot control the schools and put 
in her priests and nuns as teachers. She fears lest her 
members shall come to know some things she does not wish 
them to know and that the youth will come to love country 
better than they Jove her. I know what I am talking about, 
for I was more than forty years in the Roman Church, and 
because of the things I saw and heard there, I am writing 
this book. 

It would appear as though the Roman Church had rather 
overstepped its bounds in what it did recently in Prance. 
Ever since the law was passed which separated the Church 
and State in Prance, the Roman Church has been making 
an ineffectual struggle to so hamper the public officials in 
every way that they would agree to repeal the law and put 
the Roman Church back in her old place. But the Prench 
people are not yielding. One of the things which Rome has 
been doing has been to endeavor to break up the school 
system, since that, too, was taken out from under her con- 
trol. Not long since several of the prominant Catholic 
clergy announced that if certain text books, which had been 
sanctioned by the goverment, should be found in the hands 



67 
of the children of Cathohc parents, the children would be 
excommunicated. Now the news comes that some of the 
publishers of those books have taken the matter to court 
and are going to sue the archbishop of Paris for damages. 



HOSPITALS. 



There is less room for criticism in regard to the hospitals 
than about most things that the Church of Rome has done 
or is doing, for we must acknowledge that by means of the 
hospitals carried on in all parts of the world, she does a 
great deal to relieve the suffering of humanity. But we 
must be careful in this country because the hospitals offer 
one more opportunity for Rome to get control of things. 

The nuns are good nurses, but there are others who are 
just as good. Nursing offers occupation to those who have 
become nuns, and if some of them did not have occupation, 
they would go crazy. 

But the principal reason why the Catholic Church is so 
ready to establish hospitals is because of the chance it affords 
to bring undue pressure to bear on the minds of those who 
are sick. A sick person is one who, as a rule, is easily 
persuaded, and the sisters and priests, are very ready to 
make use of this fact. They have two methods of treatment. 
They either treat you very kindly in order to first win your 
friendship, so that you will be open to their influences, or 
they will urge you to confess to the priests, and if you do 
not, they will give you the least possible attention. Cases 
are on record where people have been neglected and per- 
mitted to die because they would not confess to the priests. 
Then there are other cases where, in a moment of delerium, 
or by means of a question which w.as not understood, a pa- 
tient has been made to agree to confess and the priest has 
come when the patient was in such a state that he did not 



68 

know what was being done, and then it has been given out 
that he died a Cathohc. When one is deahng with those 
who are the agents of the crafty Churcli of Rome, it be- 
hooves you to be veiT careful and not be deceived. Tliere 
are many people in the Roman Church, who are good people 
at heart, but who are deceived into believing that, come what 
may, they must obey the priests, and they therefore do things 
which they would be ashamed of if they sat down calmly and 
considered what they were doing. Men who were good 
neighbors have suddenly become enemies at the bidding of 
the priests. And so, while we must not overlook the real 
good that the Catholic Church is doing in the hospital work, 
we must beware of the power that is behind that just as it 
has always been behind all kinds of trickery and perse 3u- 
tions. And Protestant people living in Catholic communi- 
ties should be careful how they support institutions that are 
not erected to minisier to their needs. It only adds one 
more attraction to the town as a Catholic center and does 
that much more toward driving the Protestants out of the 
town, as is so apparently the object in many of the towns in 
the middle west. Look at the towns that are predominant- 
ly Catholic, and unless they are new towns, you will discover 
that they were originally inhabited by Protestants, who 
have systematically been driven out one by one, or family 
by family. Why should Protestantism cut its own throat by 
supporting Catholic institutions? 

A case in point is as follows: 

Daniel Pitzpatrick, Sr., administrator of the estate of Mr. 
and Mrs. Michael Lahiff, recently has been presented with 
a claim from Mercy hospital in Dubuque for 84,000 claimed 
to be remaining for board and room for the aged cotiple who 
lived there for some time before their death. There is a 
possibility that the claim will not be paid without further 
investigation, but nothing definite has been done and if the 
law is found to allow the hospital management this bill, ac- 
cording to some former agreement between them and Mr. 
and Mrs. Lahiff^ the claim will be settled without further 
discussion. 

Fort Dodge people well remember Mr. and Mrs. Michael 
Lahiff, aged people and pioneers of this county. Some 



69 

years ago, though said to be suffering from no malady., and 
merely for the privilege of having the comforts of a good 
home and the privilege of shifting responsibility, they went 
to Dubuque to reside at the hospital, as is the custom with 
many aged people. 

It is understood they lived there about five years and that 
at the time of their deaths last spring, the hospital manage- 
ment states they had paid as part remuneration for their 
lodging $1,000. The claim for $4,000 is presented now and 
it is thus ascertained that the price claimed from each for 
board and lodging, was $10 per week. 



IIOME Al^D IRELAl^D 



~For a great many years the people of Ireland have been 
complaining of the tyranny of England and have been mak- 
ing an attempt to secure what is called home rule, I do 
not sympathize with the Irish people in this as much as 
most folks do, for it seems to me that if Ireland is cut loose 
from England, it will be to fall under a far greater tyranny, 
that of the Church of Rome. 

If you were to enquire into the cause of most of the diffi- 
culties about which the Irish people are complaining, you 
would find at the bottem of it all the priests of Rome, In 
the confessional, in the pulpit and in other public addresses 
they never lose an occasion to embitter the Irish against 
the English, who are a Protestant nation. The ignorant 
Irish peasant has been a good subject for the priests to deal 
with, and in him Rome has thought that she had a weapon 
which she might some time use against the English, whom 
she has never forgiven for what was done in the time of 
Henry VIII, Read history and learn of the massacres of 
the Protestants in Catholic Ireland. Ireland has been the 
battle ground between Romanism and Protestantism, with 



70 

no leaders strong enough to turn the tide either way, and 
so poor Ireland has suffered. The Cathohc Church paints 
Henry VIII very black, but what he was was as result of the 
teaching of Rome, for he was one of her pupils, who learn- 
ed well the tricks of the teacher, but who, after all, had the 
good of the people more at heart than most people give him 
credit for. God does not disdain to use humble instruments 
and to even glorify Himself through the sinner, and in this 
case He made use of Henry's weaknesses to bring to the Eng- 
lish people the greatest thing that has happened to them 
since the signing of the Magna Charta, viz., the separation 
from the Church of Rome. 

If Ireland could be freed from the disturbing element of 
the Roman priests and learn to consider England as doing 
what she deems is best for the good of the Irish people, 
there is no reason why they should not be contented. 

The Irish and the Catholic Church make a great deal of 
Saint Patrick. He is said to have delivered Ireland from a 
great curse. If he were living today, he would be just the 
one who would undertake to deliver Ireland from the curse 
of the church of Rome. He was the kind of a man who be- 
comes a reformer when occasion offers. And were he to un- 
dertake to free his country from the yoke of bondage, he 
would be considered just as were Huss, Wy cliff and Luther. 
Saint Patrick undertook to convert people to the love of 
Jesus Christ and not to a Church. That is what the re- 
formers did, and for doing this many of them lost their 
lives. Saint Patrick would not find it so easy a task to sep- 
arate the people from the Roman Church as he did to con- 
vert them in the first place. The way in which Rome 
treated such men as Father Chinique and Ireland's own son, 
Father Crowley, gives ground for something of an idea as 
to how she will treat anyone who undertakes to defend the 
truth and to speak out against abuses and wickedness. 
Ireland's Catholics are fast becoming a power in this coun- 
try. Should Catholicism again become a power, we would 
be ruled by her priests and police. 



PROTESTANT BELIEFS VERSUS ROMANISM. 



Tliere may be some who have by the reading of this book 
been led to dispute the claims of the Church of Rome, but who 
may say, "If the Catholic Church is wrong, then what am I 
to do? How am I to know which of the many creeds of Prot- 
estantism I ought to accept?" I admit that such a question 
is apt to arise in the mind of one who has all his life been 
tied to Rome and has never been able to think for himself. 
There are many sects of the Protestants, but they all wor- 
ship one God and have perfect freedom of conscience, and 
freedom to read and study the Bible. And just as there are 
so many different kinds of people in the world, just so there 
is reason for the many different creeds of Protestants, in or- 
der that all may be able to find some Church with which 
they are in harmony. It is true that as regards baptism, 
they are not all agreed, but they are endeavoring to follow 
out what they believe to be the teachings of Christ. Then 
the Lutheran Church is too closely related to the Roman 
Church, because they teach the doctrine of Transubstantia- 
tion. But none of them are bound by the Pope, and may 
worship God according to the dictates of a good conscience. 
We cannot admit the Morman Church in the list of the 
Evangelical Churches, for it is evidently not a Church insti- 
tuted by God, nor following the commands of God. But it 
behooves the American people to be on their guard against 
the Morman Church which was never more active in making 
its propaganda- 

A man once asked me if he could not be as good a Chris- 
tian outside of a Church as to become a member of one of 
them. I told him that I thought that it was possible to live 
a Christian outside of a Church, but that he would be stand- 
ing on dangerous ground, for he would need all the help 
that the Church could give him. Then, too, if you are not a 
member of a Church you are acting as though you were a- 
shamed of God's cause, and you ought to try to help the 
Church in its work. I am obliged to confess that since I 



72 

left the Roman Cliurch I have not yet joined a Protestant 
Church, but Ireahze that I am standing on dangerous ground. 
The question of creeds is no hindrance to me. Christ has 
promised to be wherever two or three are gathered together 
in His name, so I can beheve that He will be i^resent in the 
services of any of the Churches where He is worshipped 
sincerely. I am not opposing any form, of creed. I would 
rather that a man should worship some idol than that he 
not believe in God. There are those who say that I am try- 
ing to uproot the faith of others because I have not faith. 
1 will ask you to read this book carefully and then jud^e for 
yourself as to what my position is. My purpose is to defend 
the truth against the false interpretations that have been 
put upon it by the Church of Rome. They interpret the 
Bible to make it fit their teachings and grossly slander the 
reformers. If the priests wish to bow the knee to some one 
they should do it, not to their so called saints, but to some of 
the real saints, the reformers, who lived close to God, and 
some of whom gave their lives to further the cause of truth. 
Every Catholic ought to read history in order that he may 
get at the real facts of the case, and see how falsely the 
priests speak of those good men. 

Father Crowley tells some truths that need telling, and 
may be able to compel some priests to live more carefully, 
but so long as he remains in the Cathohc Church and is a 
member of the organization, I do not believe that he will be 
able to accomplish very much. And the Roman Church is 
in great need of a thorough reformation. And if that re- 
formation does not come soon, I beheve she is doomed. She 
is losing thousands every year. And out of the nearly one 
hundred millions of people in this country, Rome has only 
about twelve million members. And it is not so very many 
years ago that the Roman Church was the church of the 
civilized world. Dr. Wright, a Mission worker in Italy, 
says, "The people of Italy, as a whole, are away from the 
Church and have lost their confidence in it, and it remains 
for Protestantism to save them, or they are lost." And the 
same thing might be said regarding most of the countries of 
Central and South America, and of France and of large 
parts of Spain. Dr. Francis E. Clark, in "The Gospel in 



73 

Latin Lands" says: In spite of the Churches and cathedrals, 
Italy, more than any other country in the world, may be 
said to be the land of no religion. The people, especially 
the men, have largely broken away from the ancient Church, 
and few have found anchorage elsewhere. 

Speaking of Spain, Cannon Meyrick says: An impoverish- 
ed and languid Church is supported by the nobility and by 
statesmen as a political instrument, but it has lost its hold 
on the middle classes and the shopkeepers, who are given 
over to scepticism and unbelief. 

Dr. Clark says of South America, "Many of the people 
have thrown off the ancient faith and are in danger of drift- 
ing into absolute infidelity and atheism. In fact, multitudes 
of the men have already done so, and millions of children 
are growing up with the example in the house of fathers 
who have practically repudiated their allegiance to the 
Church. While the women are, as a rule, still devout Catho- 
lics, in most parts of South America few men ever darken 
the doors of the churches." 



MR. FAIRBANKS AND THE POPE. 



On Sunday, Feb. 6, it was announced through the press 
that the Hon. C. W. Fairbanks, former Vice-president of the 
United States, had been refused an audience with the Pope, 
because he refused to withdraw a promise he had made to 
address the Methodists in Rome. So much was said about 
the matter that Archbishop Ireland felt called upon to de- 
fend the Pope in his attitude, and said that he did so because 
it was so easy for people to misunderstand. He then went 
on to attack the work which the Methodist missionaries are 
doing in Rome and Italy, accusing them of unfair and libel- 
ous methods. To this, Bishop Hartzel, of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, said, "Ireland, with his heated verbiage 



74 

will not deceive the American people. The simple facts 
are that the Roman Catholic Church accepts the presence 
of any other Church organization in Rome and Italy, only 
because it is compelled to do so by the laws of the land. An- 
other well known fact is that despite the laws of Italy, the 
Roman Church does not believe in religious freedom, and 
wherever it has the power, forbids it." 

I will add that the Pope is tame while he is powerless, 
but should he ever be able to break his chains, and Catholi- 
cism ever again become a power, the Protestant heretics 
would soon be sent to the gallows and the stake. 

Mr. Fairbanks, like any Christian gentleman, wished to 
pay his respects to the man who is at the head of such a 
large body of Christian people. But when he was asked to 
choose between addressing the people who belong to the 
same church that he does, and having an audience with His 
Holiness, he was loyal to his Christianity rather than to the 
superstition and pretentions of the Papacy. We cannot un- 
derstand how the Pope could have expected that Mr. Fair- 
banks would love him more than he would love his fellow 
Protestants. Mr. Fairbanks has set a splendid example to 
many a Protestant who has been ready to give up far more 
than Mr. Fairbanks was asked to give up, and have received 
far less in return than he would have received. All honor 
to a man who had the courage of his convictions! 

Archbishop Ireland ought to have had more sense than to 
suppose that he by a few words could deceive the world. If 
the Methodist missionaries are libeling the Roman Church, 
why do they not take the matter to the courts? If the state- 
ments in their literature regarding the Roman Church are 
untrue, why do thej^ not disprove them? He will soon find 
out, as will the Pope, that their attitude in the matter will 
call the attention of the world to the work of the Protestant 
missions in Rome, and people will be reading the literature 
and will learn some things about the Roman Church that 
they did not know before. O! that the laymen of the Cath- 
olic Church would find out the truth about their church, in- 
stead of swallowing whole what the priest tells them! 

The Northwestern Christian Advocate printed the follow- 
ing editorials on the subject: 



75 

Last week's Northwestern gave with a degree of hesita- 
tion the dispatches that tlie Pope had refused an interview 
with former Vice-president Fairbanks on the ground of the 
latter's promise to speak in our Methodist Chapel in Rome. 
The reason alleged seemed so inadequate and the action so 
at variance with the sinuous diplomacy of the Vatican that the 
dispatches with their "scare" heads and suggestions of a 
great religious war were discounted as a bit of pure sensa- 
tionalism to relieve the dry season of the daily press. 

The incident is altogether to the credit of Mr. Fairbanks. 
An audience with the Pope had been arranged for him. 
When it was learned that he had consented to speak in our 
Methodist chapel, being himself a Methodist, he was notified 
that the Holy Father would not be able to receive him. The 
pastor of the Church, Dr. Tipple, offered to release Mr. 
Fairbanks from his engagement to speak, but Mr. Fairbanks 
declined the offer and kept his engagement. For this, of 
course, every ma'nly straightforward citizen must accord him 
honor. Even the Catholic Citizen of Milwaukee declares 
that "American Catholics will not blame Mr. Fairbanks 
for the choice he did make; he stood with his coreligionists; 
the episode should make him quite popular with the four or 
five million Methodists in the United States." 

On the other hand it has to be conceded that the Pope has 
a perfect right to say what guests he shall receive and on 
what conditions he shall receive them. Mr. Fairbanks was 
in Rome as an American citizen and not as an official. If the 
Pope felt that he was compromising his Church in receiving 
Mr Fairbanks under the circumstances, he did just what Mr. 
Gladstone justified himself in doing w^hen he refused to open 
a bazar for some Roman Catholic organization on the ground 
that he regarded "the proselytizing agency of the Roman 
Church in this country (Great Britain) to be one of the worst 
religious influences of the age." Just the same, the Vatican 
may have reason to remember its intolerance. At the time 
it seemed a small matter that the Vatican should re- 
fuse an audience to the President of the French Republic, 
and the rebuff was greatly applauded by the Vatican press. 
France, however, took it seriously, and out of that appar- 
ently trivial incident came the severance of diplomatic rela- 



76 

tions between France and the Vatican and later the separa- 
tion laws. Should the Fairbank's incident arrest the at- 
tention of thoughtful American Catholics to the utterly un- 
progressive character of Vaticanism, and its thoroughly alien 
and un-American temper, who shall say that out of it there 
may not come an American independent Catholic Church in 
which what is best and most spiritual may have a chance 
for ascendancy and what is intolerant and undemocratic may 
be sloughed off? The threat in American Catholicism is Ro- 
man Vaticanism. 

In connection with the Fairbank's incident, Archbishop Ire- 
land of St. Paul became violently pro- Vatican. Such an 
eruption is suspicious. In connection with the archbishop's 
religious endeavor for a cardinalate one has to think of him 
as talking, if not through his hat, at least in the interest of 
a hat. He is especially bitter at the Methodists in Rome. 
He cannot speak of them calmly. When in Rome, some 
time ago, he spent weeks in studying their methods. As an 
investigator he finds that "the pernicious methods employ- 
ed bj the Methodist association in proselyting are at the 
bottom of the affair. These methods," he says, "are by no 
means honorable"; they are, indeed "slanderous"; they take 
advantage of the poverty of the poor; they do not make good 
Methodists but only poor Catholics or infidels; and, anyway, 
they are not a success! Now why this outbreak? If Meth- 
odism is not a success why take any notice of it? It is her 
success that makes the Vatican uneasy and the archbishop 
rage. Methodism has a property and influence not only in 
Rome but in Italy which has long been an occasion of jealous 
hostility on the part of the Vatican. The central property, 
in the neighborhood of the royal palace, is the potential ri- 
val of the Vatican's "Society for the preservation of the 
Faith." In the building are housed the headquarters for 
the English-speaking and Italian worship, the publishing in- 
terests for all of Italy, a boys' school and a theological sem- 
inary. Then there is Crandon Hall of the Woman's Foreign 
Missionary Society, a girls' collegiate and industrial school, 
recognized by Italians of high standing as the foremost 
school for young women in Italy. Another school under the 
same auspices, a girls' home school, which enrolled last year 



77 
sixty- seven students, is in charge of Miss Italia Garibaldi, 
granddaughter of the famous Guiseppe Garibaldi, honored 
throughout the world as one of the founders of Free Italy, 

Outside of Rome, Methodism has stations in Florence, Ge- 
noa, Milan, and Venice, and two- score lesser places, all of 
them offering the gospel of the Son of God to any who will, 
without reserve and without constraint. The archbishop's 
charge of "proselytizing" is, for an archbishop, less than 
gracious, and for an investigator, less than accurate. Of 
the thoroughly patriotic character of Methodist work in It- 
aly it should be enough to say that the King bestowed upon 
Bishop Burt a medal and the Order of Lazarus in recogni- 
tion of the service rendered the state by the religious, edu- 
cational, and philanthropic work of the Methodist mission. 
During the earthquake, which spread desolation through 
southern Italy, the services of the Methodist deaconesses in 
relieving the distress of the sufferers were the subject of 
public recognition and gratitude. In response to a call for 
help from our Dr. Clark, the Methodists of America sent 
promptly more than $15,000 through the mission, in addition 
to numerous gifts through the Red Cross Society, Of its 
distribution. Dr. Clark wrote at the time: "As far as our 
means permit we are also aiding Roman Catholic families 
in helping to care for the wounded in the hospitals." 

The truth is, Vaticanism is getting to be restive under the 
serious defections from its own ranks. Right well its best 
men know it to be utterly and apparently irremediably op- 
posed by the modern spirit of progress. For every George 
Tyrrell it crushes out a hundred of equally fine temper and 
fiber but with greater resisting power spring up to take his 
place. In Spain, in France, in Italy itself, the intellectual 
leaders are indifferent or hostile, the rank and file are sullen 
and threatening. As this is being written the press an- 
nounces the arrival in this country of Dr. Giorgio Bartoli, 
one of the most distinguished and learned of Italian church- 
men, who last year renounced his allegiance to the Jesuit 
order and sought admission to the Waldensian Church in 
Italy. He is here to tell Protestant America that the day 
of Italy's redemption from the blight of Vaticanism is draw- 
ing near. Already in Rome itself, in all the great com- 



78 

mercial centers, in villag'es and towns everywhere, the tide 
of feeling against the unpatriotic papal court is rising. Al- 
ready even the simplest people are beginng- to distin- 
guish between Catholicism as a religion and the Vatican 
as a simoniac oligarchy. Methodism has no need to prose- 
lytize. She has but to keep her doors open, to preach the 
gospel, and to care for the increase. Tliere is a refinement 
of brutality in the archbishop's stricture upon Methodism 
for giving food to the hungry, clothing for the naked and 
shelter to the homeless. What else or what less could any 
professing- disciple of the Lord Christ do? Rome's beggars, 
multiplied and neglected by the oppression of the Roman 
priesthood, are the pity of the world. Protestantism has 
an immediate and imperative mission to Italy not as Prot- 
estantism, but as a messenger of the Spirit to save that land 
from materialism and irreligion. Tliere are spiritually -mind- 
ed Catholics there as elsewhere, but they are helpless and 
hopeless under the weight of hierarchical oppression. An 
evangel from without, quite independent of Vatican threats 
and Vatican penalties, is about the only hope ahke for Italy 
and for a true Cathohcism. 

The following- is from the paper, "Kind Words,'' a publca- 
tion of the Baptist Church, and will explain very well the 
reason why the Pope recently refused an audience to Mr. 
Fairbanks, 

ITALY AS A MISSION FIELD. 

Some good people doubt the wisdom of missionaries to a 
land professedly Christian, when there is so much need of 
the gospel in Asia and Africa. Such is the opinion of those 
who are either ignorant of the true condition of Romanism 
in its home, or of those who have more religious sentimen- 
tality than the Bible warrants. 

What Italy needs is the preaching of a pure gospel. The 
presence of the powerful papacy makes it almost impossible 
for the people to break the bonds which bind them, unless 
help comes from without. Religiously, Italy stands behind 
strong walls of past traditions, and it will require time and 
patience to break them. It is just as important to send mis- 
sionaries here as to Japan or China, unless we are willing 
to admit that the Roman Catholic Church is true, and that 



79 
her worship of Mary and other departures from the simphc- 
ity of the gospel are right. Shall we acknowledge an insti- 
tution to be the Church of Christ which altogether lacks His 
Spirit; subverts the primitive doctrines of Christianity; per- 
secutes bitterly His followers; substitutes human for divine 
authority; withholds the Word of God from millions; enslaves 
the mind and conscience; sells salvation; grants indulgences; 
worships images and saints; teaches a corrupt system of 
morals; impedes human progress and the advancement 
of learning, and bitterly opposes every free political and 
religious institution in the world? God forbid that we 
should approve of such cunningly devised fables! 

THE DIFFICULTIES 

of the field are many and great and will not be quickly over- 
come. On the part of the people, ignorance (in some cases 
75 per cent of the adult population can neither read or write), 
superstition, poverty, immorality, religious indifference and 
atheistic socialism are the greatest obstacles. On the part 
of the priesthood, we have slander, obloquy and persecutions 
in every form. Church members are "boycotted," discharg- 
ed from their positions, starved in hospitals and finally 
buried in wretched cemeteries or opened fields. The 
churches themselves lose heavily by emigration. Some 
have nearly half their membership in foreign lands. The 
Baptist Church in Monson, Massachusetts, was founded by 
members from Calitri. The Miglionico Church has twenty- 
seven members in America, and Gravina loses three or four 
members every year. 

HOPEFUL SIGNS 

are not lacking. Italy, as a nation, has made great strides 
forward the last few years. Parliament has passed a num- 
ber of laws, among which is a law for the civil observance 
of Sunday, that will greatly improve the moral and econom- 
ic condition of the country. 

From a religious standpoint, important changes have 
taken place. Among the clergy, including some bishops, 
there is growing a spirit of rebellion against the mediaeval 
doctrines and methods of the papacy, which augurs well for 
the future. Sympathy for France in her struggles with 
the Vatican, the abandonment of the church by priests, the 



so 

growth of popular edncation, a larger spirit of toleration on 
the part of the better classes, a general distrust of priest- 
hood, a wider circulatioD of tracts, religious newspapers, 
and especially the Bible, are evident signs of abetter future. 



ko:me^s up to date fakes 



The Xew York Herald says: All that part of the east 
side that has Seventy- sixth street for its artery is making 
its annual pilgrimage to the relic of St. Anne at the Church 
of St. Jean Baptiste, No. 159, East Seventy-sixth street. 
Two wonderful cures are attributed to the holy rehc of the 
saint that has for fifteen years been kept in the church. 

The relic is a part of the wrist bone of St. Anne. The 
story that goes with the relic is that a son of a French king, 
himself dumb, led the exploring party that unearthed the 
body. 

That was several centuries ago. The dauphin prayed, 
had faith and was cured, and then the sacred rehc was di- 
vided and sent to various parts of the Cathohc world. 

The feast of St, Anne falls on July 26. It is the custom 
to hold nine days of preparation and of prayer. 

During the time the parishioners come trouping to -the 
church at all hours. Out in the street, women of the church 
have established little tables from which they sell crucifixes, 
scapulars and small images of St. Anne encased in their 
covers. Lockets, pins and other emblems devoted to the 
memory of the saint are bought by the faithful. 

The blind, the halt and the lame have come in numbers 
each day to pray before the relic. Saturday afternoon, 
while the church was filled, there came to a rear seat an 
old woman. She had been blind for seven years. 

"The blessed relic; is it here?" she asked. 

"It is," whispered a neighbor. 

The blind woman began to pray aloud. The volume of 



81 
her supplications annoyed her neighbors. They turned to 
look at her, noticed she was blind and turned in pity to 
their own devotions. Suddenly those near her heard a 
sharp cry. 

"Oh, good St. Anne, I see, I see!", she exclaimed. 

There crowded about her persons who sat nearest. 

They asked if she could really see. 

"I see as well as I could when I was twelve years of age," 
she replied. 

No one seemed to know the woman's name. The matter 
was reported to the priest in charge. Yesterday they were 
trying to find the woman. 

"We have not succeeded yet, but she will come back to 
the services during the retreat, and we hope to get some in- 
formation," said the rector yesterday. 

A second case that had not been reported to the priests 
had an old man — a cripple for years— as its central figure. 
An altar boy told the story of this man's coming to the 
church in an automobile and limping painfully to the altar 
rail on two crutches. 

When the man left the rail, according to the boy, he car- 
ried his useless crutches in his hand. 

People in the vicinity are much wrought up over reported 
cures. News of restoration of sight and limb spread over 
the congested area like wildfire, 



THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CONGRESS ON MISSIONS. 
From a Foreign Missionary Standpoint. 

REV. GEORGE HEBER JONES, D.D., SEOUL, KOREA. 

The announcement that a congress of the Roman Catholic 
Church in the United States on the subject of missions and 
Church extension was to be held in Chicago excited warm 
interest. There immediately rose to mind a vision of the 
peoples among whom the Roman Church once held sway but 
has lost out — France, Italy, Austria, the South American 
republics, and Mexico, and a reasonable expectation was 



82 

formed that the more vigorous and enhghtened Church in 
the United States would attempt something in their behalf. 
Nothing, however, was suggested. Then there came up the 
thought of the great nations and peoples still outside the 
Christian pale, China, India and Africa, but aside from a 
very remote reference to "foreign missions'' they were not 
even mentioned. On the whole the "congress," from a mis- 
sionary standpoint, was a conspicuous disappointment. 

This disappointment was emphasized particularly at cer- 
tain points. The congress was advertised as consisting of 
all the great dignitaries of the Roman Church in America, 
yet men like Cardinal Gibbons and Archbishop Ireland were 
conspicuous by their absence. Evidently the publicity side 
of the congress made large use of flamboyant advertising 
methods. There was an absence of any evangelistic note. 
The cry sounded was not so much for the bringing of the 
blessings of the gospel to weary, heart-sick and sinful men, 
as for the further extension of the sway of the Church of 
Rome over the lives of men in the United States. If the 
"missionary" end had been omitted from its name and the 
congress had contented itself with being known as seek- 
ing Roman Church extension, it would have been nearer 
the mark. All efforts to evangelize and bring erring and 
needy men out into the liberty and nobler manhood of Jesus 
Christ must be welcomed by right thinking men, but plans 
for mere aggrandizement of a sect are an annachronism 
nowadays. 

The chief note struck by the congress was that of the 
baldest kind of sectarianism. This note was sounded forth 
in two ways. First there appeared to be a suppressed feel- 
ing of alarm over the situation among Catholics in America. 
Can it be that the hierarchy is losing its grip on the intelli- 
gent minds among its laj^men as well as over the multiplied 
thousands of immigrants who throng our shores? Ameri- 
cans are in the habit of thinking for themselves, and we 
doubt if the historic and characteristic claims of Roman- 
ism will stand the test of a thinking man's thought. 
What an opportunity was lost by this congress on Roman 
Church extension to sound a note of real catholicity in ex- 
tending a hand of sympathy and cooperation to all Churches 



83 

of Christ which are striving to bring the comfort of the gos- 
pel and the nobler ideals of Christ into the lives of men! 

Then this note of sectarianism betrayed itself in an antag- 
onism and an aggressive sort of pugilism toward the various 
Christian Churches which have found it necessary in the 
interests of truth to differ from the Roman Church. We 
know that the intelligent and enlightened men of the Cath- 
olic Church have little sympathy with this sort of mediaeval- 
ism, and it was therefore rather unfortunate for them that 
the over-zealous in the congress should have served notice 
on the great Christian Churches of America to get off the 
earth. It takes some men a long time to learn the elemen- 
tary lessons of the day in which they live, and we wonder 
what the congress really thought of the report made to it 
by one of its great proselyting agencies that after several 
years of activity it had succeeded in securing a little over 
twenty-five thousand perverts from American Christian 
Churches ! Rather insignificant returns from a large invest- 
ment. 

The only force that can really influence the world is 
genuine Christianity that rings with the divine harmonies 
of the catholicity of Jesus Christ. Like all good things it 
has its counterfeit, which is sectarianism, and sectarianism 
fails to find congenial soil in America. Our Constitution is 
against it, for it has debarred all priestly despotism by 
guaranteeing freedom of conscience and the right to relig- 
ious assembly. Our public schools are against it, and only 
those who fear the sense of equality they foster would at- 
tack them. The American spirit grows impatient at it, re- 
garding it as one of the pinafore garments of the childhood 
days of civilization. In the place of sectarianism we value 
neighbor liness and brotherhood. 



SHORT PARAGRAPHS. 

ROME VS. PROTESTANTISM. 

Rome looks to the Pope for knowledge; the Protestants 
look to God as He reveals Himself in the Bible. 

Rome teaches her young her Catechism; Protestantism 
teaches the truths of the Bible. 

Rome teaches that it is the supreme duty of the Catholic 
to obey the commands of the man who may chance to be the 
Pope; Protestantism teaches that we should put our trust 
in no man, but in Christ alone. 

Rome teaches that the people cannot understand the Bible 
and that it is therefore dangerous for them to try to read it, 
and that the priests must interpret it for the people. If 
this were true, why is it that during all these 2000 years 
Rome has not been teaching the Bible? Why are her people 
so ignorant today of the contents of the Bible, if it is the 
business of the priests to make them understand it? During 
all these centuries, the Bible has been a locked book. To- 
day she pretends to encourage her people to read the Bible, 
but the contrary is the case. 



In answer to Cardinal Gibbons' remarks on the loyalty of 
Catholics to their country, I would say that the Catholic 
people are not and will not be loyal to their country so long 
as they are under the control of the priests. The laity is 
made to believe that they cannot be Christians unless they 
first implicitly obey the Church. Thus they listen to the 
talk of the priests and take it for the gospel. If it were not 
for the continual threats of the priests, the Cathohcs of this 
country would be loyal to the public schools. The Germans 
were the first to start separate schools, but not because they 
did not have confidence in our schools, but because they 
wished their children to be taught in the language of their 
fathers. In the public schools nothing is taught against 
Romanism, but the priests are so afraid that the influence 
of the Protestant children will cause the Catholic children 



85 

to want to become Protestant. Then, too, in the pubhc 
schools they will learn things, not as the priests relate them, 
but as they are, and then they can no longer be blinded. 

The Cardinal admits that Catholics love this country, and 
well they may, for they are freer here from the Pope's iron 
rule than are most Catholics, and there is no other country 
where they are so well treated as in the United States. 

The Cardinal says that his people rejoice in the separation 
of Church and State. I would like to ask if that is the case, 
why it is that the whole Catholic Church is making so much 
trouble for Prance where they have recently separated 
Church and State? And why is it that the Bishops and 
the clergy in general in Catholic countries meddle so much 
in politics? If the Pope were in power in this country, it 
would not be a week before plans would be on foot to so 
change the Constitution as to join Church and State, and 
have the Church supported by the government. 



I have been criticized in two ways. Some of my friends 
think that if I do not believe that the Roman Church is 
right, I ought not to allow my children to belong to it. 
There are others who think that I am trying to force them 
out of the Church, and say I am wrong in that. The truth 
of the matter is that I have never attempted to compel them 
to leave the Roman Church. It was I who permitted them 
to become members of that Church, and since that time 
they themselves have come to believe in the Church, and I 
shall never be the one to force them to leave the Church. 
If they can be led to feel that the Roman Church is not 
right, and voluntarily withdraw from it, I shall be pleased, 
but I do not believe that it is the right thing to force people 
out of a Church any more than it is right to force people in- 
to a Church. Though a Church may be wrong, its members 
usually love her with as much sincerity and earnestness as 
a maiden will cling to her lover even after he has proved to 
be false. All that I can do is to pray that God may show 
the light to my children as He has to me. 



A man cannot be a real Christian and belong to the Ro- 
man Catholic Church, unless he is ignorant of the teachings 



86 

of the Church. It may be possible for a man who is a Cath- 
ohc to live right in God's sight, but he cannot do so if he 
does what the priest tells him to do. A man cannot obey 
the Pope and God at the same time, for there are many 
times when the commands of the Pope are directly in oppo- 
sition to the commands of God and of Christ. 



There is no order or sect so dangerous as the Roman Cath- 
olic Heirarchy. I do not wish to be understood as saying 
that all the teaching of the Roman Church is wrong. There 
is much that is good, and it is the part that is good that 
holds the faith of many who are really disgusted with the 
practices of the priests. But through her false teachings 
and the enormous power that she wields over the minds of 
her members, she is to be feared. The press is one of the 
greatest influences of modern times. But in many instances 
the Catholic Church is in control of the press, and through 
the press is able to carry on a kind of boycott which is very 
effective. Of this I can give many instances. 



We may go to the church and pray with our lips and con- 
fess our sins to the priest every day of our lives, but if we 
do not get the filth out of our hearts, if we still talk about 
our neighbors with an evil heart, if we do not bring back the 
thirty pieces of silver, if we do not pay our debts, if we con- 
tinue to drink, gamble and swear, in other words if we do 
not try from day to day to lead new lives, all our praying 
and confessing will be of no avail. Let us not depend on the 
priest. We may get such a lot of sin piled up against us 
that we shall some day come to understand that the priest 
was not able to forgive it, and we may think that our sins are 
so many that God will not want to forgive them. But He 
tells us to come to Him with all our sins, and He will forgive 
(not the priest) if we believe. 



We are all born free, and are privileged to worship God 
as our consciences shall dictate, and that worship should 
be in the right spirit. We should be ready to obey the laws 
which God has given us in the Bible, but should be careful 
that we do not obey laws which man has written, some 



87 
of which may he in opposition to God's laws. But we have 
no right to beheve in this or that creed or to oblige others to 
worship God in the way that we do. On the other hand, if 
a neighbor does not worship God as we believe every man 
should, and if he believes in some teachings that we know 
are false, then it is our duty to try to show him wliere he is 
wrong. In politics I may not be voting the best way, and 
may be even voting in a way that will not be to my advan- 
tage. But even then nobody has the right to compel me to 
vote otherwise- But any good friend of mine would not be 
a good friend if he did not try to show me that I was not do- 
ing the best thing. Just so ought I to do in this book. I am 
a friend of the Catholic laity, and I know that most of them 
are bhnd to the real position of the Roman Church, and how" 
far removed she is from being what God's Church should be. 



My Catholic friends have tried to make me believe that I 
should not have left the Roman Church, because it has been 
the Church of my parents. What a poor argument! Sup- 
posing that my parents had been anarchists or robbers, then 
I ought, according to the above argument, to be just what 
they were. Or suppose I lived in some country where my 
parents might have been cannibals and idolators. Must I 
then of necessity have also been a cannibal and an idolator? 
Why does the Catholic Church send missionaries to try to 
convert the idol worshippers, if a man should always con- 
tinue in the belief of his parents? Think of the darkness of 
the middle ages and how much denser would be the igno- 
rance today if it had not been that so many thousands who 
had been brought up in the Catholic Church left that Church, 
knowing that in so doing they were doing the will of God! 



When Luther understood that he was not serving God by 
shutting himself up in a Monastery, he did not hesitate to 
come out and declare to the whole world the truth that God 
had revealed to him. 

John Huss gave to the world for all time a wonderful ex- 
ample of true fidelity and courage. He had but to recant, 
and he would have escaped the death that his enemies pre- 
pared for him. But he felt that he would rather gain heaven 




MARTIN LUTHER. 

The man who g'ave us light and broke the chains that bound us to 
the Pope. 



89 
than to gain the whole world by being false to what he be- 
lieved. 

But neither Huss nor Luther ever died. It is true that 
the body of Huss was given to the torture of the flames, 
and that Luther was buried, but their memories have been 
kept fresh, and the effect of their lives can be seen today in 
the lives of thousands of Christian people the world over. 
I believe that Huss is today very close to God, pleading the 
cause of Bohemia. He cut out some of the brambles from 
the field that Rome was pretending to cultivate, but Luther 
came along and displaced those who were working in the 
field, and sowed new seed, giving to the people the word of 
God. 



The truths that we have learned in childhood are the ones 
that we cling to longest, and for these truths many have 
been ready to lay down their lives, including Protestants, 
Catholics, Hindus, Mohammedans and Idolators. And hence 
we are apt not to give a fair consideration to any one who 
attacks our childhood beliefs. And for this reason it is very 
hard to show the Catholics where their Church is wrong. 
They are blind to the truth and do not wish to see. 



I have been criticized by Catholics for leaving the faith in 
which my parents had brought me up. We are not respon- 
sible for what we were at the time that we were in ignorance, 
nor for what our forefathers were taught or what they taught 
us. We are not responsible for what we have not, but for 
what we have, and we are expected to live up to the light 
that is given us. If a man finds that he has been walking 
in darkness and suddenly he sees the light, ought he not to 
turn towards it? In our government we have certain laws 
and principles to which we expect every citizen to be loyal, 
and if he is false to them, we call him a traitor. So when a 
man comes to understand what the laws of God are, no mat- 
ter what the teachings of a church is, he must be true to 
laws as he understands them by the help of God's spirit, or 
else he is a traitor to himself. So it was with me. I could 
not be loyal to the Roman Church and true to God according 
to the teaching of the Bible. 



90 

Many will wonder why I wrote this book. My answer is 
that I have seen Protestant truths and freedom much insult- 
ed, and I myself have been called a liar by the adherents of 
Rome. So I began to look about me, and I saw that I was 
not living in the time of Galileo or Copernicus or John Huss, 
and that I could dare to defend the truth. 



My friends tell me that there are many very learned 
people who are in the Roman Church, and that therefore it 
cannot be that only those are in the Roman Church who are 
ignorant. I care not if a man be as great as Alexander or 
Napoleon or as wise as Solomon, if he does not understand 
the teachings of Christ, all his fame or his learning will 
never get him into heaven. And I believe that even if great 
and wise men are in the Roman Church, they either do not 
know what Christ teaches or else they are hypocrites. 



I am glad we are living in an age of freedom and of tolera- 
tion such as has never before existed. But it behooves the 
Protestants of this country to be very careful as to how 
much they yield to the demands of Rome. She has only one 
purpose, that is to rule in this country just as she does in 
some others, and every time that the Protestants yield a 
point in favor of the Roman Catholics, they are doing that 
much towards forging the shackles that 'will bind this 
country if Rome shall ever get into power. We should be 
especially careful as to the way in which the public schools 
are carried on, for if Rome can poison the mind of the child, 
she has poisoned the mind of the adults of tomorrow. 



Although among Catholics first cousins are not permitted 
to marry, yet I know of a case where a priest offered to 
to marry a man to his cousin. The people had already been 
married either by a magistrate or by a minister. But they 
were quite friendly to the Catholic Church and their friends 
advised them to be married again by the priest. To 
this the priest agreed, but said that it would be necessary to 
write to the Bishop to get permission, and that he would 
have to charge them $50.00. As the man was poor, he had 
to say that he could not pay the money. The priest was 



91 

willing to disobey the law of the Church if he was paid 
enough for doing so. 



One of the most important things about which Father 
Crowley speaks in his book is the graft that exists through- 
out the Church of Rome. He is in a position to know what 
he is talking about. One custom is always universal, that 
is to keep a church undergoing some slight repairs in order 
that the priest may have some motive for calling on the peo- 
ple for money. Then the fees that are charged for baptisms, 
for weddings, for funerals and for saying masses for the 
dead, offer a great opportunity for the priest to charge any 
price he wishes. Then in so many churches, especially in 
foreign countries, there are what they call relics, bones of 
saints, most of which are not original, and a price is charged 
for viewing them, kissing them, etc. So that the whole sys- 
tem of the Roman Church seems to be honeycombed with 
graft, and one is sometimes tempted to feel that that is the 
reason why the church now exists. 



"The social conscience is practical Christianity. It is the 
gospel of the kingdom coming at last to its own. Not in 
cathedral fanes, not in ceremonies, or in priesthoods, or in 
theologic dogmas is it coming, but in the hearts of people, 
in inspirations there to a common good, the highest there is, 
a highest which is to be shared by all. " 

"Service is becoming more and more the practical and 
national expression of religion. All churches are recogni- 
zing that, important as creeds may be, still that church is a 
Christian church which is trying to be in the world what 
Christ was and do what Christ did." 



The area of the Reformation was a revolt not only against 
the tyrrany of the Church of Rome in religious affairs, but 
it was also a revolt against the bondage in which the mind 
of man had been for many centuries. The time of the Re- 
formation in religious life marks also the beginning of the 
advance in Science. And, so far as we know, the world has 
never advanced so fast as it has since the 16th century. 
The bondage in which men were in their religious lives was 



92 

very directly related to the bondag-e of mind, and when 
they began to think for themselves in religion, then they 
beg"an to think about other mattei^, and that period gave 
rise to an awakening of the mind of men all through the 
civilized world, but more especially in those countries which 
had been under the domination of Rome and had thrown off 
the shackles. The scientists as well as the religious world, 
owe much to the reformers. It was not until the reformers 
dared raise their voices against the domination of Rome, 
that the scientists dared contradict the opinions which had 
been promulgated by the Roman authorities. 



To show my reader how Rome tried to keep the mind in 
bondage, permit me to call your attention to the following 
quotation from Hill's Ready Reference Library — -Galileo was 
a most distinguished Italian physicist. His father procured 
for him an excellent education in literature and arts, and in 
1581 he entered the University of Pisa. At the age of 19, 
the swinging of a lamp in Pisa eathedrial led him to invest- 
igate the laws of oscillation of the pendulum, which he sub- 
sequently applied to the measurement of time. He now de- 
voted his attention exclusively to mathematics and natural 
sciences, and in 1589 was made professor of Mathematics at 
the University of Pisa. His lectures acquired European 
fame. He taught his scholars to measure the height of a 
mountain by its shadow; he improved the thermometer; to 
the telescope he gave a new importance. He noted the ir- 
regularity of the moon's surface. His most remarkable dis- 
covery was that of satellites of Jupiter. He also detected the 
sun's spots and the inclination of its axis to the plane of the 
ecliptic. At Florence he gained a decisive victory for the Co- 
pernican theory by the discovery of the varying phases of 
Mercury, Venus and Mars. In 1611 he visited Rome, where he 
was honorably received, but on his return to Florence he be- 
came more and more involved in controversy which took a 
theological turn and drew upon him the fury of the Jesuits. 
A congregation of cardinals and monks examined his works 
and condemned them as highly dangerous, and summoned 
him before the tribunal of the Inquisition. The veteran 
philosopher was compelled to go to Rome and renounce up- 



93 

on his knees the truths he had maintained, but when he 
arose he was heard to say "Yet it moves." Upon this he was 
sentenced to the dungeon, and every day for three years 
was to repeat the seven penitential psalms of David. After 
a few days, the sentence was changed to one of banishment 
to the villa of the Grand duke of Tuscany at Rome, 



Just as the blood of the early martyrs is said to have been 
the seed of the Church, so the persecution carried on in the 
middle ages by the Church of Rome was one of the things 
that made the Protestant Church grow so rapidly and made 
them so staunch and true. I think it would be a good thing 
for the Protestant Church today if it had to undergo some 
form of persecution. But Rome had no idea that she was 
helping the cause of the Protestants; she believed that she 
would be able by her severe measures to utterly destroy 
Protestantism. So Saul thought when he was putting the 
Christians in prison and helping to put them to death. 



All who are trying to follow the example of Jesus Christ 
should be brothers, and should be ready to take each other 
by the hand and to help each other. But I would not wish 
to see all the world in the Catholic Church. Rather a thou- 
sand creeds than that the men and women of this generation 
should be the bondservants of Rome. Par better that creeds 
should multiply than that the Rome should ever come to 
hold sway over the minds of men, and destroy the best 
things that our modern civilization has produced, among 
which is our system of the public schools. 



Rome, through her wicked practices and false teachings 
is every year driving thousands out from her membership. 
And the sad part of it is that the majority of those who 
leave the Roman Church are so embittered at having been 
tricked by the priests, that they for a time, at least, look 
with suspicion upon all churches and clergymen, so that 
the larger part of them become infidels. This is very large- 
ly the condition that exists in the so-called Catholic coun- 
tries. 



94 

Rome asserts her claim to be the only true Church of 
Christ upon earth. But how strange it is if that be true, 
that the Roman Catholic Church is the only one of the 
Churches that call themselves Christian in which gambling, 
card playing, dancing and even drinking are carried on 
for the benefit of the Church? That does not seem very 
much in harmony with the acts and teachings of Christ, 
when we remember how He went into the temple, drove out 
those who were trading, and said, "My house shall be called 
a house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves." 



In a lecture at Chicago on last St. Patrick's day. Father 
Fielding openly declared that the story of St. Patrick dri- 
ving the snakes out of Ireland was only a myth, for there 
had never been any poisonous snakes in the island, and that 
the story had originated with enemies of the country. I be- 
lieve that Rome is at last getting her eyes open and is com- 
ing to understand that she can no longer expect people to 
believe anything that the priest may tell them, and that the 
day is coming when her teaching will change in that respect. 
Oh, that she would begin to teach the truth as spoken by 
Christ and the apostles! 



The Jewish High Priests were directly responsible for the 
death of Christ. There were probably a good many people, 
who on Palm Sunday shouted for Christ as he came riding 
into Jerusalem, and yet when He was tried they were among 
those who were shouting, "Crucify him", because the priests 
were urging them to do so. The priests were never the 
friends of Christ. One reason was because He spoke so 
plainly about them. The other reason was that they feared 
Him and feared He was going to destroy their religion. And 
so although He was the Son of God, they were willing to 
have Him put to death, saying, "His blood be upon our 
heads." The Roman Church has always adopted that same 
attitude. And no matter who the person or the organization 
has been, if it has been in opposition to the Roman Church, 
it has been persecuted. We read with horror some of the 
deeds of the Turks, who believe that they ought to kill every 
one that will not become a Moslem. But has not the Roman 



95 

Church always tried to do that same thing wherever she 
has dared? The Inquisition took as many hves as have the 
massacres of the Mohammedans, and both were carried on 
by a people who were supposed to be serving God- 



There must be some things in which the Catholic Church 
is right, and there must be some things in which the Prot- 
estant Church is right. But there are some people who will 
not admit that such is the case. They cannot believe that 
there is anything good in the Catholic Church, and the 
majority of Catholics believe the teachings of the priests 
that the Protestants are on the sure road to hell, and it is 
impossible to convince them otherwise. And the poor peo- 
ple have been led to have the strongest kind of hatred for 
everything Protestant, and especially for the reformers. I 
remember one man who was especially bitter against Luth- 
er. I o:ffered him ten dollars if he would write what he had 
said and sign his name to it. He would not do so, and 
escaped having his name in this book. His statement was 
one that would hardly have been fit to put into print, but I 
wranted to show what the priests have been able to lead 
some men to believe. If the priests were true men and 
taught the truths of the Bible, and told the truth about the 
facts of history, there would be some hope for the Catholic 
Church. 



I believe in a state government but believe in a govern- 
ment for the people and freedom for the people. I believe 
in a church government but I do not believe in a church 
government by the Pope and his priests. It would perhaps 
all be welJ if they would walk in the footsteps of our Lord 
and teach as he taught and not persecute. But they have 
failed to do so and it would not be well to let them get into 
power again. Rome's motto has always been "Silence that 
man that dares to speak against Rome." She has burned 
all she could of Luther's writings but she could not silence 
the truth as she could no more burn the hands that write it. 
Although the priests tried to excite the people against him 
and they do today to some extent, what has the man 
done? I can not see any wrong in the man. He has given 



96 

us the Bible truth. He has given the world its freedom 
from the yoke of Rome. Luther was not against the church 
as we are made to believe, but he was against the wickedness 
and the wrong teaching that Rome brought into it. 



THE ROMAN PRIESTS. 



The priests are mostly like unto a bar tender. You can 
judge the amount of good work that they do by the number 
of inches they measure around the waist. I can not see 
much Christianity among most of them. You may know a 
hard working judge, lawyer or priest by his face or gray 
hair. I do not want to slander the priests. I could go and 
write a whole book of scandal and graft about them and write 
naught but the truth. But you can find enough books on 
such so I will not soil my book with it. There are good 
and pious priests, but few and far between. Read Father 
Crowley's book on the Wickedness of Priests and the Paro- 
chial school or Father Chinequa or the History of Rome. 
It is our duty to read these books as it pertains to our 
schools and our government. A book is a loaf that feeds 
thousands and printing is the miracle of the loaves and 
fishes. 



3n Mtmoxv of l^oktt ^tUlasfej? 



. e^-'-^^'ri'^ ! !^^>-j . . 



Dearest Robert, Thou hast left us, 
We no more thy face shall see; 

And we wonder, in our sadness. 
Why such things here have to be. 



I have reserved this page in memory of our son, Robert, 
who was born July 4, 1908, and was taken from us June 17, 
1909. We are left sad and broken-hearted since there was 
taken from us the little angel, who was so like a beautiful 
rose just budding, with all its promise of beauty and fra- 
grance. It is saddening to see such a dear little form cut 
down and taken away, and yet I am happy when I think 
that God took him in his innocence. He has taken His little 
lamb from among the wolves of this world. I rejoice to re- 
member that Christ said "Suffer the little ones to come un- 
to me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of 
Heaven." Then I remember He also says to the wicked, 
"Unless ye repent and are baptized, and become as little 
children, ye cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven." And so 
while I grieve for the baby form, I rejoice because he is 
safe in the bosom of the Savior. 



PART II 



INFIDELITY 



At the beginning of tliis part of the book I think that it 
will be best to give some definitions of the word Infidel. 
Webster defines Infidel as "not holding the faith of the 
Scriptures, disbelieving in the prevailing faith, unbeliever, 
deist, atheist, skeptic, agnostic." Another name in common 
use is freethinker. An unbeliever is not necessarily a dis- 
believer or infidel, because he may be seeking evidence up- 
on which he is ready to base his belief. 

Most of the people who leave the Catholic Church become 
infidels. They are the hardest kind of people to win back 
to any church. And what is the reason? In the first place 
they have come to realize how they have been deceived by 
the Roman priests, and they leave the Roman Church be- 
cause of the entire lack of confidence in her. Then while 
they were in the Roman Church, the priests have so poison- 
ed their minds that they cannot believe in the Protestant 
Churches, and so they do not care to have anything to do 
with any church. I believe that many of the priests would 
rather that their people should go straight to hell than that 
they should join a Protestant Church. I know that the 
Protestants are sometimes very zealous for their own de- 
nomination, but they always try to get the- people to join 
some church, while the priests will try to teach their people 
that they will surely be damned if they join a Protestant 
Church. I have had some experience here in our own city, 
and the Protestants have been ready to have me join any 
one of their churches. I shall not defend or criticize any 
creed, but will say that every one ought to believe in some 
creed and after one has come to believe in a certain creed, if 
he discovers that it is wrong, then he should go to some 
other church in whose doctrines he can believe. 



101 
This world is full of evil, and every man, woman and 
child needs some kind of a guide in spiritual matters. The 
Church Universal is such a guide, which has been instituted 
by Christ Himself. The infidel does not believe in the 
Church. Where, then, has he anything to guide him? 
What have they that will take the place of the preaching 
services, the prayer meeting, the Sunday School, the young 
peoples' societies, the Young Mens' Christia,n Association 
and the Salvation Army? You cannot make men good by 
means of secret societies, the study of philosophy and the 
enforcement of law, which are the things which the infidel 
seems to believe in. Theodore Roosevelt said that if it were 
not for the churches, we should have to shoot down the law- 
less element like dogs, for there would not be room for them 
in the prisons. The church is not in competition with the 
law. It is trying to so effect the lives of men that they will 
not come into conflict with the law. We have got past the 
time when we believed that we could change men's lives by 
punishing them for breaking the laws. I have not yet seen 
any man converted to any good by the police and the prison 
bars. 

Let me give you a testimony that Mr. F. J. Weaver gave 
regarding the Church. He says: "I had been six years in 
the Lansing prison and suffered all kinds of punishment, but 
it did not make me any better, and when I got my freedom 
I went on sinning, gambling and stealing. But one day the 
Church people found me, talked with me, and I was conA^ert- 
ed and my heart was changed," and he goes on to say that 
the prison ought to be handled by Christian men and that 
punishment alone will not make any bad man or boy good. 
The infidel says that the Church cannot save men. That is 
true, and no man can be saved by a Church as such, but the 
power of God's spirit working through the heart and lives 
of Christian people can save a man. There are millions to- 
day who say, "I was made a better man or woman through 
the help of the Church", but I never in all my life heard 
anyone say that infidel teaching had done him any good. 
Look at the condition of the world at the time infidel ru- 
lers were in power. Read of the times of Caesar and Nero 
and Trajan. Trajan did not look with friendly eye on the 



102 

rapid advance which Christianity was making-. He wished 
for military glory, and the spirit of Christianity was opposed 
to wars, and hence his persecution of Christianity. Nero 
did not beheve in Christianity for he did not wish to lead a, 
goodhfe. Antoninus was one of the few rulers who protect- 
ed the Christians by decreeing that if any one should molest 
the Christians and make accusations against them merely on 
account of their religion, he should be punished to the extent 
of the law. 

The infidel tells me he does not beheve in the teachings 
of the churches. He says he does not beheve that a merci- 
ful God would send a soul to eternal punishment. Neither 
do I. But it is not God that sends a soul to hell, but the 
soul itself is the cause. Prisons are not for good people, 
but for the criminals, though sometimes innocent people are 
sent there because of false e\T.dence. But bad people go to 
prison, not because the judge sends them, but because it is 
found out that they are bad and a menace to society. And 
when we come before God, there will be no false or partial 
evidence, and not because God sends a soul, but because of 
the vileness of the soul, it will, of necessity, go to the place 
prepared for the devil and his angels. A fruit does not de- 
cay because some one compels it to, but because of what it 
is. What kind of a heaven would it be if the just and the 
unjust were both to be there under the same conditions? 
Suppose our governor were to turn all the criminals loose? 
Remember the indignation that was aroused some years ago 
in Illinois over the fact that a certain governor pardoned so 
many criminals. So we beheve that there should be in this 
life a destinction made between the good and the bad folks; 
and if that is so, why should it not be true in the hereafter? 
We do not make people bad nor do we make laws because 
we like to, but the fact that there are bad people in the 
world, makes it necessary that society should in some way 
protect itself. Just so, since there are souls given over to 
sin in this world, that very fact makes it necessary that 
there should be a different form of treatment for them than 
for those that have lived godly lives. God does not send 
them to punishment; their sinning here sends them. There 
are some things that no one tries to bring about, but they 



103 

may be said to be natural consequences. A natural outcome 
of slave holding in our southern states was the terrible suf- 
fering for both north and south. The position which Spain 
03supies to lay among the nations, is a natural result of her 
cruel policies. Just as no one can compel us to sin, but we 
deliberately choose to sin, just so no one punishes us, but if 
jjunishment comes, it is a result of the sin we have commit- 
ted. So today the Spanish government has fallen through 
her wickedness. 

In connection with infidelity there is a term which has 
been very much misused. I refer to the word, "free think- 
er."' There are many people who believe that a man cannot 
b3 a free thinker unless he is an infidel. Now that word 
can be thought of in two ways. It may be taken to mean 
a man who does not believe in anything at all, or it may 
be taken to mean a person who is able to think for him- 
self, one who is not obliged to think just as some one 
wishes him to do, but may exercise his own judgement. 
The power to think for one's self and to believe what you 
wish as the result of that thinking, and the power to act 
ii aceordanoe withtliose conclusions are all privileges which 
iTien did not fully enjoy until after the reformation. We 
may speak of free thinkers in another sense, one who be- 
lieves in God, and one who does not. One is a Christian, 
the other is not. The Cliristian has used his reasoning 
powers and lias arrived at the conclusion that there is a God 
and has concluded to serve Him. The other man wishes hu- 
manity to believe that he is the only person that has used 
his reasoning power and that he does not have to be bound 
down by the creeds that the churches promulgate. A good 
Catholic can be neither of these. If he uses his reasoning 
powers and concludes that there is a God, and then begins 
to look about him and to read the Bible and history, he can- 
not remain in the Catholic Church, for no man can begin to 
really think for himself, but that the priest will know of it 
and they do not want such men in the Church. On the 
other hand, if a man is a free thinker in the sense that he 
does not believe in anything, then he cannot remain in the 
Catholic Church, unless he is a hypocrite. The Christian 
free thinker believes in Christianity because of what it is 



104 

and what it is doing, while the unbeliever is not able to 
rightly interpret history. The Christian can see God in 
everything about him, in the flowers, in the birds, and, in 
fact, in everything that is alive, and in all the beauty of in- 
animate nature. Christianity has done a great deal of good, 
while I have j^et to learn of some good that infidelity has 
done. The infldel is like the anarchist. He is ready to de- 
stroy, but he has nothing to ofler in the place of what he 
would destroy. In fact, infidelity is but an excuse for men to 
neglect the laws of both God and man and do as they please. 
We have many infidel teachers among our Bohemian people. 
We need good leaders in every department of life, but we 
should not be too ready to follow everyone who poses as a 
leader. We should beware of the "false prophets in sheep's 
clothing." So many of our people on coming to this country 
left the Catholic Church, partly because it is so difiicult in 
most parts of the country to find churches where the Bohe- 
mian language is spoken, and partly because they felt more 
independent here than in the country from which they had 
come, and it was easy, as they were strangers, to stay away 
from the churches. From this they have drifted into infi- 
delity, and many of them are going about the country pro- 
claiming their infidel teachings. Perhaps they are not 
wholly to blame. Perhaps they do not intend to lead the 
people astray, but they are like a great many of the quack 
doctors; they do not understand the case, and they are pre- 
scribing the wrong remedy. 

Among these agitators is a Dr. Iska. I do not know him 
personally, and cannot say anything against his character. 
He has spoken against the priests for charging money for 
his services, but I went once to hear him speak, and found 
him doing the same. But he is somewhat cheaper. He told 
me all he knew for 25 cents. 

Let me tell you something about one of Dr. Iska's follow- 
ers, whom 1 have known for thirty years. Once he went 
twenty miles to hear Dr. Iska speak, and would yell at the 
top of his voice whenever the speaker would say something 
especially hard against the churches. Dr. Iska has a great in- 
fluence over such men, who almost worship him; but what 
good did it ever do them? He could touch their minds, but 



105 
not their hearts. Ingersoll was a very smart man, a power- 
ful speaker, but did no good in the world, and is very rapid- 
ly being forgotten because his words were not the words of 
God, which give life. 

This man of whom I have been speaking, was very seldom 
sober. Many a time I have seen his poor children trying to 
get him home from a saloon when he was so intoxicated that 
he was almost crazy. And yet he was always ready to put 
up an argument against the churches and the Bible. His 
wife is a good Christian woman and has brought up the 
children to fear God and believe in the Church. Some may 
point to the children as examples of the way an infidel 
brings up his children. But what they are is due to the 
mother and not to him. The only thing he could do for 
them would be to teach them to talk against Christianity 
and to patronize the saloon. I hope that the day will come 
when this man will cease to be a disciple of Dr. Iska and 
will become a follower of the Christ, and that real happi- 
ness will come to that home. I have some relatives who are 
infidels- and I know that their home lives are most unhappy. 

No, Dr. Iska, you may boast of your learning and power 
of mind, but a little child may some day lead thee to right- 
eousness. You are bringing to the people something that 
does not satisfy. It has been tried a good many times and 
has always been found wanting. Your teachings do not 
minister to the real needs of the soul. Your aim is not to 
teach the people to lead better lives, but you find it a very 
paying business to go about the country giving lectures and 
taking the peoples' money and giving them nothing in re- 
turn but words. 

Mr. Iska boasts that he is a follower of John Huss; but if he 
were following in Huss's or Luther's steps, he would try to 
do something to build up the character of the people. Any 
old woman can talk all day about her neighbors and can 
criticize the church or government but it takes a strong 
man to build up a church or a government. Do we wish to 
tear down the whole government because of a few flaws in it? 
Shall we destroy our churches because of some bad priests? 

Our best and greatest men have been and are Christian 
men, and I do not believe that there is one sensible Ameri- 



106 

can that will agree with Dr. Iska's infidel teaching. I believe 
that after he has been longer in America he will learn better. 
He reminds me of a traveling man I heard talking the other 
day. He was telling his companions about his neighbors 
and he had not a good word for one of them. "Say Mister", 
said one of his friends, "have you not one good neighbor?" 
Just so Mr. Iska cannot see anything good in any religion 
just because he has seen so much wrong in the Roman 
Church. His learning has but made him the more danger- 
ous. Education of the intellect alone may be very harmful. 
At President Harrison's inauguration a friend said to him, 
"You are today one of the greatest men on earth." "Not at 
all," said he. "I became greatest when I became a Chris- 
tian and joined the Church." 



MEN TO BE HONORED. 



First among those who should be honored, loved and re- 
membered are the reformers, translators and authors of good 
books. A good book has power to lift us up toward better 
things, it is an inspiration, a world of knowledge and a lamp 
to our feet. It will keep us from gambling and pool halls, 
saloons and all such places of vice. 

I have said that a good book is an inspiration, but our in- 
fidel friends will not admit it. The blind cannot see and the 
wicked, benumbed heart cannot feel. If a man does not feel 
some inspiration from some source, he will be like a dead 
stone, dead to all good thoughts. 

If a book possesses an inspiration for those that read it, it 
must have been written by some one who was inspired. 

The wicked does not and cannot teach that which is good. 
For instance, neither Herod nor Nero could have written such 
a book as the Bible, unless they had abandoned their wick- 
edness. Neither could Paul have written his great epistles 
before he was converted. And as the apostles could not 



107 
write and teach God's truths while they were in their sins, 
neither can any unconverted man today speak or teach the 
truth of God. 

But the great mass of people today do not read the great 
books that have been inspired, but they read the cheap nov- 
el of the day, or the cheap papers, which are, in many cases, 
poisonous to the mind. And how many people do I see 
throwing away their precious minutes, hours and days gam- 
bling with stupid cards, and drinking booze, when they 
might be gleaning wisdom from some good book! Milton 
says that a good book is the life blood of a master spirit. 



THE BIBLE. 



"I will not trample on the Bible, the holy book," said 
George Washington when a little boy, picking it up and 
kissing it. He had by mistake placed it on a chair to step 
on. 

The Bible has been the most criticized and insulted of all 
books. It makes my heart ache to hear the ignorant infidel 
talk about the good book; but God forgives. They do not 
know what they do. They have either not read it at all, or 
they have not read it with the understanding. The Old 
Testament is a history of the people with whom God dealt 
especially. It pictures the good and the bad and in no place 
upholds a bad man. Everyone should read the stories of 
the lives of such men as Abraham, Joseph and David. It is 
full of lessons for all. The Bible also contains the founda- 
tion principles of all republics. While the Roman nation gave 
us law, Christianity gave us the principles of self-govern- 
ment and there is no teaching that can compare with that of 
Christ and the apostles. 

While it is impossible for man to come to understand God, 
yet by devotedly studying the Bible and the wonderful 



108 

works of God we learn more of God's purposes and attrib- 
utes; and to the extent of our ability His mind becomes our 
mind, His wisdom our wisdom. The more we investigate 
His works the better we shall know Him, and the better we 
know Him the more shall we admire Him. To know God is 
to love Him, and one of the best ways to get to know Him is 
to read the Holy Word. While there is a theology in nature 
we cannot neglect that in the Bible. I wish that all might 
read the book, "Science and the Bible", written by Rev. H. 
W. Morris. The Bible when rightly interpreted, has always 
been found to be in agreement with the results of scientfic 
research. If it is thus true to science when it is not a sci- 
entific text book, with more reason ought we to put faith in 
it in regard to religious matters. 

Our infidel friends say the Bible is unnecessary and that 
all that is necessary is that the people should be taught to 
love one another as brothers and to obey the laws. That is 
just what the Bible teaches, and those who love God do love 
their fellows and obey the laws and those who do not love 
God do not love their fellows or keep the laws. If all were 
Christians we would not need laws and of&cers and prisons, 
and if the churches were destroyed we would not have pris- 
ons enough to hold the law-breakers. 

When a man loses faith in God, he also loses faith in his 
fellows and in himself. And when a man has lost faith in 
himself he is not only of no use in the world but he is ready 
to give himself to any form of wrong-doing. The Bible 
teaches man to have faith in God, in his fellows and in him- 
self. It teaches him to obey the laws and to do good rather 
than evil. 

The man who does not believe in the teachings of the Bi- 
ble will either be a hypocrite or a wrong-doer. If he lives 
a good life and is therefore following the teachings of the 
Bible he is a hypocrite for saying he does not believe in the 
Bible. Most such men have not read the Bible at all or 
have read it bottom side up. A man has much to learn be- 
fore he can say ought against the Bible. Read "Science 
and the Bible", written by Rev. H. W. Morris. 



THE INFIDEL AND THE GHUKCH. 



The infidel appears to hate the Church. He seems to have 
no heart or eyes. All the good that is being done through 
the agency of the Church for the uplift of mankind he either 
does not see or gives a wrong motive. He would pull down 
the very steeples that point to the heavens, which men have 
built for the glory of God. 

If some preacher commits a fault, then the infidel condemns 
all preachers as being blacklegs. If a man is caught steal- 
ing a horse and some time belonged to a church, than the 
infidel says that all church members would do wrong if they 
could. If a young boy or girl known as Christians do 
wrong, then the finger of scorn is pointed at the Christian 
parents- If a man receives a sun stroke and it effects his 
brain, then his infidel friends say he has gone insane over 
religion. There is nothing honest or fair about the infidel. 
Seventy per cent of the insanity is caused by drunkenness 
and most of the other thirty can be traced to wicked living. 
On the other hand the men of greatest intellect are as a rule 
Christians and students of the Bible. Christianity strength- 
ens the intellect, softens the heart and not the brain, and 
helps a man to sympathize with his fellows. In obeying 
God's laws he obeys man's laws. The infidel has no right 
to judge the Church or the preachers or the members because 
he knows some church to be wrong, or knows some preacher 
or laymen who has sinned. We do not judge our cattle by 
the runts or our grain by the poorest ears or our scholars 
by the dullards. But we rather judge all of these by the 
best or the average product. And the average product of 
the Church throughout the centuries has certainly been far 
better than the lives of those who have not been connected 
with the Church, 

The infidel, as a rule, does not knowt he teachings of the 
Church. He will not attend Church services. He always 
has a thousand excuses. He says "I have no good clothes" 
or "it is too hot or too cold, too dry or too wet or too far. Re- 



110 

member the man who went twenty miles to hear Dr. Iska 
talk; and there are many men who would go twenty miles to 
get a drink of beer, but such men are not interested in good 
things, either of Church or of government. 

Without the Churches we would have no decent govern- 
ment. The church and good government are founded upon 
the same principle. Look at our own country in regions 
where there are almost no Churches. In these places as 
soon as you go there, you will meet ungodly men and boys, 
swearing, quarreling, fighting, drinking and breaking the 
Sabbath, a day ordained for rest, both by God's laws and the 
laws of man. "By their fruits ye shall know them." Where 
there are many churches, the class of people will be found 
to be very different from those living in places where there 
are almost no churches. 

Many infidels say that only women and children belong to 
the churches and the churches are good for only women and 
children. Hence the hearts of all good people are made glad 
when our public men take a stand in favor of Christianity. 
Right here I wish to print the lecture given by William Jen- 
nings Bryan on the subject "The Prince of Peace". Few men 
have claimed the attention of the public as much as he has 
during the last decade and few men are held in higher esteem 
because of their worth of character than is he. Hence these 
words come with greater force than if they were delivered by 
a preacher. 



THE PEINCE OF PEACE. 



I offer no apology for speaking upon a religious theme 
for it is the most universal of all themes. If I addressed 
you upon the subject of law I might interest the lawyers; 
if I discussed the science of medicine I might interest the 
physicians; in like manner merchants might be interested 
in a talk on commerce, and farmers in a discussion of agri- 
culture; but none of these subjects appeals to all. Even the 
science of government, though broader than any profession 
or occupation, does not embrace the whole sum of life, and 
those who think upon it differ so among themselves that I 
eould not speak upon the subject so as to please a part with- 
out offending others. While to me the science of government 
is intensely absorbing I recognize that the most important 
things in life lie outside of the realm of government and that 
more depends upon what the individual does for mimself 
than upon what the government does or can do for him. 
Men can be miserable under the best government and they 
can be happy under the worst government. 

Government affects but a part of the life which we live 
here and does not touch at all the life beyond, while religion 
touches the infinite circle of existance as well as the small 
arc of that circle which we spend on earth. No greater 
theme, therefore, can engage our attention. 

Man is a religious being; the heart instinctively seeks for 
a God. Whether he worships on the banks of the Ganges, 
prays with his face upturned to the sun, kneels toward Mec- 
ca or, regarding all space as a temple, communes with the 
Heavenly Father according to the Christian creed, man is 
essentially devout. 

There are honest doubters whose sincerity we recognize 
and respect, but occasionally I find young men who think it 
smart to be sceptical; they talk as if it were an evidence of 
larger intelligence to scoff at creeds and refuse to connect 
themselves with churches. They call themselves "liberal", 



112 

as if a Christian were narrow minded. To these young" men 

I desire to address myself. 

Even some older people profess to regard religion as a 
superstition, pardonable in the ignorant but unworthy of 
the educated — a mental state which one can and should out- 
grow. Those who hold this view look down with mild con- 
tempt upon such as give to rehgion a definite place in their 
thoughts and hves. They assume an intellectual superiori- 
ty and often take little pains to conceal the assumption. Tol- 
stoy administers to the "cultured crowd" (the words quoted 
are his) a severe rebuke when he declares that the religious 
sentiment rests not upon a superstitious fear of the invisible 
forces of nature, but upon man's consciousness of his finite - 
ness amid an infinite universe and of his sinf alness; and this 
consciousness, the great philosopher adds, man can never 
outgrow. Tolstoy is right; man recognizes how limited are 
his own powers and how vast is the universe, and he leans 
upon the arm that is stronger than his. Man feels the 
weight of his sins and looks for One who is sinless. 

Religion has been defined as the relation which man fi:xes 
between himself and his God, and morality as the outward 
manifestation of this relation. Every one, by the time he 
reaches maturity, has fixed some relation between himself 
and God and no material .change in this relation can take 
place without a revolution in man, for this relation is the 
most potent influence that acts upon a human life. 

Religion is the basis of morality in the individual and 
in the group of individuals. Meterialists have attempted 
to build up a system of morality upon the basis of enlight- 
ened self-interest. They would have man figure out by 
mathematics that it pays him to abstain from wrong doing; 
they would even inject an element of selfishness into altru- 
ism, but the moral system elaborated by the materialists has 
several defects. First, its virtues are borrowed from moral 
systems based upon religion; second, as it rests upon argu- 
ment rather than upon authority, it does not appeal to the 
young and by the time the young are able to follow their 
reason they have already become set in their ways. Our 
laws do not permit a young man to dispose of real estate 
until he is twenty-one — Why this restraint? Because his 



113 
reason is not mature; and yet a man's life is largely mould- 
ed by the environment of his youth. Third, one never 
knows just how much of his decision is due to reason and 
how much is due to passion or to self interest. We recognize 
the bias of self interest when we exclude from the jury every 
man, no matter how reasonable or upright he may be, who 
has a pecuniary interest in the result of the trial. And, 
fourth, one whose morality is based upon a nice calculation 
of benefits to be secured spends time figuring that he should 
spend in action. Those who keep a book account of their 
good deeds seldom do enough good to justify keeping books. 

Morality is the power of endurance in man; and a religion 
which teaches personal responsibility to God gives strength 
to morality. There is a powerful restraining influence in 
the belief that an all-seeing eye scrutinizes every thought 
and word and act of the individual. 

There is a wide difference between the man who is trying 
to conform to a standard of morality about him and the man 
who is endeavoring to make his life approximate to a divine 
standard. The former attempts to live up to the standard if 
it is above him and down to it if it is below him — and if he 
is doing right only when others are looking, he is sure to 
find a time when he thinks he is unobserved, and then he 
takes a vacation and falls. One needs the inner strength 
which comes with the conscious presence of a personal God. 
If those who are thus fortified sometimes yield to temptation, 
how helpless and hopeless must those be who rely upon 
their own strength alone! 

There are difficulties to be encountered in religion, but 
there are difiiculties to be encountered everywhere. I pas- 
sed through a period of skepticism when I was in college 
and I have been glad ever since that I became a member of 
the church before I left home for college, for it helped me 
during those trying days. The college days cover the 
dangerous period in a young man's life; it is when he is just 
coming into possession of his powers — when he feels strong- 
er than he ever feels afterwards and thinks he knows more 
than he ever does know. 

It was at this period that I was confused by the different 
theories of creation. But I examined these theories and 



114 

found that they all assumed something to begin with. The 
nebular hypothesis, for instance, assumes that matter and 
force existed— matter in particles infinitely fine and each 
particle separated from every other particle by space infinite- 
ly great! Beginning with this assumption, force working 
on matter — according to this hypothesis — creates a universe. 
Well, I have a right to assume, and I prefer to assume a 
designer back of the design — a Creator back of creation; 
and no matter how long you draw out the process of creation, 
so long as God stands back of it you can not shake my faith 
in Jehovah. In Genesis it is written that, in the beginning, 
God created the heavens and the earth, and I can stand on 
that proposition until I find some theory of creation that 
goes farther back than "the beginning." 

I do not carry the doctrine of evolution as far as some 
do; I have not yet been able to convince myself that man is 
a lineal descendant of the lower animals. I do not mean to 
find fault with jou if you want to accept it; all I mean to 
say is that while you may trace your ancestry back to the 
monkey, if you find pleasure or pride in doing so, you shall 
not connect me with your family tree without more evidence 
than has yet been produced. It is true that man, in some 
physical qualities, resembles the beast, but man has a mind 
as well as a body and a soul as well as a mind. The mind 
is greater than the body and the soul is greater than the 
mind, and I object to having man's pedigree traced on one- 
third of him only — and that the lowest third. Fairbain lays 
down a sound proposition when he says that it is not suffi- 
cient to explain man as an animal; it is necessary to explain 
man in history — and the Darwinian theory does not do this. 
The ape, according to this theory, is older than man and yet 
he is still an ape while man is the author of the marvellous 
civilization which we see about us. 

One does not escape from mystery, however, by accepting 
this theory, for it does not explain the origin of life. When 
the follower of Darwin has traced the germ of life back to 
the lowest form in which it appears — and to follow him one 
must exercise more faith than religion calls for — he finds 
that scientists differ. Some believe that the first germ of life 
came from another planet and others hold that it was the 



115 

result of spontaneous generation. 

If I were compelled to accept one of these theories I 
would prefer the first, for if we can chase the germ of life 
off this planet and get it out into space, we can guess the 
rest of the way and no one can contradict us, but if we ac- 
cept the doctrine of spoataneous generation, we cannot 
explain why spontaneous generation ceased to act after 
the first germ was created. 

Go back as far as we may, we cannot escape from the 
creative act, and it is just as easy for me to believe that God 
created man as he is as to believe that, millions of years 
ago. He created a germ of life and endowed it with power 
to develop into all we see today. But I object to the Dar- 
winian theory, until more conclusive proof is produced, be- 
cause I fear we shall lose the consciousness of God's presence 
in our daily life, if we must assume that through all the 
ages no spiritual force has touched the life of man or shaped 
the destiny of nations. But there is another objection. 
The Darwinian theory represents man as reaching his 
present perfection by the operation of the law of hate — the 
merciless law by which the strong crowd out and kill off the 
weak. If this is the law of our development, then if there 
is any logic that can bind the human mind, we shall turn 
backward toward the beast in proportion as we substitute 
the law of love. How can hatred be the law of develop- 
ment when nations have advanced in proportion as they 
have departed from that law and adopted the law of love? 

But while I do not accept the Darwinian theory I shall not 
quarrel with you about it; I only refer to it to remind you 
that it does not solve the mystery of life or explain human 
progress. I fear that some have accepted it in the hope of 
escaping from the miracle, but why should the miracle 
frighten us? It bothered me once, and I am inclined to 
think that it is one of the test questions with the Christian. 

Christ cannot be separated from the miraculous; His birth, 
His ministrations, and His resurrection, all involve the mi- 
raculous, and the change which His religion works in the 
human heart is a continuous miracle. Eliminate the mira- 
cles and Christ becomes merely a human being and His gos- 
pel is stripped of divine authority. 



116 

The miracle raises two questions: "Can God perform a 
miracle?" and, "Would He want to?" The first is easy to 
answer. A God who can make a world can do anything He 
wants to do with it. The power to perform miracles is 
necessarily implied in the power to create. But would God 
want to perform a miracle? — this is the question which has 
given most of the trouble. The more I have considered it 
the less inclined I am to answer in the negative. To say 
that God would not perform a miracle is to assume a more 
intimate knowledge of God's plans and purposes than I can 
claim to have. I will not deny that God does perform a 
miracle or may perform one merely because I do not know 
how or why He does it. The fact that we are constantly 
learning of the existence of new forces suggests the possi- 
bility that God may operate through forces yet unknown 
to us, and the mysteries with which we deal every day warn 
me that faith is as necessary as sight. Who would have 
credited a century ago the stories that are now told of the 
wonder working electricity? Forages man had known the 
lightning, but only to fear it; now, this invisible current is 
generated by a man-made machine, imprisoned in a man- 
made wire and made to do the bidding of man. We are even 
able to dispense with the wire and hurl words through space, 
and the X-ray has enabled us to look through substances 
which were supposed, until recently, to exclude all light. 
The miracle is not more mysterious than many of the things 
with which man now deals — it is simply different. The im- 
maculate conception is not more mysterious than any other 
conception — it is simply unlike; nor is the resurrection of 
Christ more mysterious than the myriad resurrections which 
mark each annual seed-time. 

It is sometimes said that God could not suspend one of 
His laws without stopping the Universe, but do we not sus- 
pend or overcome the laws of gravitation every day? Every 
time we move a foot or lift a weight, we temporarily inter- 
fere with the operation of the most universal of natural 
laws, and yet the world is not disturbed. 

Science has taught us so many things that we are tempted 
to conclude that we know everything, but there is really a 
great unknown which is still unexplored and that which we 



117 
have learned ought to increase our reverence rather than 
our egotism. Science has disclosed some of the machinery 
of the universe, but science has not yet revealed to us the 
great secret — the secret of life. It is to be found in every 
blade of grass, in every insect, in every bird and in every 
animal, as well as in man. Six thousand years of record- 
ed history and yet we know no more about the secret of life 
than they knew in the beginning. We live, we plan; we 
have our hopes, our fears; and yet in a moment a change 
may come over any one of us and this body will become a 
mass of lifeless clay. What is it that, having we live and, 
having not, we are as the clod? We know not and yet the 
progress of the race and the civilization which we now be- 
hold are the work of men and women who have not solved 
the mystery of their own lives. 

And our food, must we understand it before we eat it? 
If we refused to eat anything until we could understand the 
mystery of its growth, we would die of starvation. But mys- 
tery does not bother us in the dining room; it is only in the 
church that it is an obstacle. 

I was eating a piece of watermelon some months ago 
and was struck with its beauty. I took some of the seed 
and dried them and weighed them, and found that it would 
require some five thousand seed to weigh a pound. And 
then I applied mathematics to that forty pound melon. One 
of these seeds, put in the ground, when warmed by the 
sun and moistened by the rain, goes to work; it gathers from 
somewhere two hundred thousand times its own weight and, 
forcing this raw material through a tiny stem, constructs a 
watermelon. It covers the outside with a coating of green; 
inside of the green it puts a layer of white, and within the 
white a core of red, and all through the red it scatters seeds, 
each one capable of continuing the work of reproduction. 

Where did that little seed get its tremendous power? Where 
did it find its coloring matter? How did it collect its flavor- 
ing extract? How did it build a watermelon? Until you can 
explain a watermelon, do not be too sure that you can 
set limits to the power of the Almighty or say just what He 
would do or how He would do it. I can not explain the 
watermelon but I eat it and enjoy it. 



118- 

Everj^thing that grows tells a like story of infinite 
power. Why should I deny that a divine hand fed a multi- 
tude with a few loaves and fishes when I see hundreds of 
millions fed every year by a hand which converts the seeds 
scattered over the Jield into an abundant harvest? We know 
that food can be multiplied in a few months' time; shall we 
deny the power of the Creator to eliminate the element of 
time, when we have gone so far in eluninating the element 
of space? 

But there is something even more wonderful still — the 
mysterious change that takes place in the human heart 
when the man begins to hate the things he loved and to 
love the things he hated — ^the marvelous transformation 
that takes place in the man who, before the change, would 
have sacrificed the world for his own advancement but who, 
after the change, would give his life for a principle and es- 
teem it a privilege to make sacrifice for his conviction. 
What greater miracle than this, that converts a selfish, self 
centered, human being into a center from which good influ- 
ences fiow" out in every direction! And yet this miracle has 
been wrought in the heart of each one of us — or may be 
wrought — and we have seen it wrought in the hearts of 
those about us. No, living in the midst of mystery and 
miracles I shall not allow either to deprive me of the bene- 
fits of the Christian religion. 

Some of those who question the miracle also question 
the theory of atonement; they assert that it does not accord 
with their idea of justice for one to die for others. Let 
each one bear his own sins and the punishments due for 
them, they say. The doctrine of vicarious suffering is not 
a new one; it is as old as the race. That one should suffer 
for others is one of the most familiar of principles and we 
see the principle illustrated every day of our lives. Take 
the family, for instance; from the day the mother's first 
child is born, for twenty-five or thirty years they are scarce- 
ly out of her waking thoughts. She sacrifices for them, 
she surrenders herself to them. Is it because she expects 
them to pay her back? Fortunate for the parent and fortu- 
nate for the child if the latter has an opportunity to repay 
in part the debt it owes. But no child can compensate a 



119 

parent for a parent's care. In the course of nature the 
debt is paid, not to the parent, but to the next generation, 
each generation suffering and sacrificing for the one follow- 
ing. 

Nor is this confined to the family. Every step in advance 
has been made possible by those who have been willing to 
sacrifice for posterity. Freedom of speech, freedom of the 
press, freedom of conscience and free government have all 
been won for the world by those who were willing to make 
sacrifices for their fellows. So well established is this doc- 
trine that we do not regard any one as great unless he rec- 
ognizes how unimportant his life is in comparison with the 
problems with which he deals. 

I find proof that man was made in the image of his Crea- 
tor in the fact that, throughout the centuries, man has been 
willing to die that blessings denied to him might be enjoyed 
by his children, his children's children and the world. 

The seeming parodox: "He that saveth his life shall 
lose it and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it," 
has an application wider than that usually given to it; it is 
an epitome of history. Those who live only for themselves 
live little lives, but those who give themselves for the ad- 
vancement of things greater than themselves find a larger 
life than the one surrendered- Wendell Phillips gave ex- 
pression to the same idea when he said: "How prudently 
most men sink into nameless graves, while now and then a 
few forget themselves into immortality." 

Instead of being an unnatural plan, the plan of salvation 
is in perfect harmony with nature as we understand it. 
Sacrifice is the language of love, and Christ, in suffering for 
the world, adopted the only means of reaching the heart; 
and this can be demonstrated, not only by theory but by ex- 
perience, for the story of His life. His teachings, His suffer- 
ings and His death has ])een translated into every language 
and everywhere it has touched the heart. 

But if I were going to present an argument in favor of 
the divinity of Christ, I would not begin with miracles or 
mystery or theory of atonement. I would begin as Carnegie 
Simpson begins in his book entitled, "The Facts of Christ." 
Commencing with the fact that Christ lived, he points out 



120 

that one can not contemplate this undisputed fact without 
feeling that in some way this fact is related to those now 
living. He says that one can read of Alexander, of Caesar 
or of Napoleon, and not feel that it is a matter of personal 
concern; but that when one reads that Christ lived 
and how He lived and how He died he feels that son^ehow 
there is a chord that stretches from that hfe to his. As he 
studies the character of Christ he becomes conscious of 
certain virtues which stand out in bold relief — purity, 
humility, a forgiving spirit and an unfathomable love. The 
author is correct. Christ presents an example of purity 
in thought and life, and man, conscious of his own imper- 
fections and grieved over his shortcomings, finds inspiration 
in One who was tempted in all points hke as we are, and 
yet without sin. I am not sure but that we can find just here 
a way of determining whether one possesses the true spirit 
of a Christian. If he finds in the sinlessness of Christ an 
inspiration and a stimulus to greater effort and higher liv- 
ing, he is indeed a follower; if, on the other hand, he resents 
the reproof which the purity of Christ offers he is likely to 
question the divinity of Christ in order to excuse himself 
for not being a follower. 

Humility is a rare virtue. If one is rich he is apt to be 
proud of his riches; if he has distinguished ancestry, he 
is apt to be proud of his lineage; if he is well educated, he 
is apt to be proud of his learning. Some one has suggested 
that if one becomes humble, he soon becomes proud of his 
humility. Christ, however, possessed of all power, was the 
very personification of humility. 

The most difficult of all the virtues to cultivate is the 
forgiving spirit. Revenge seems to be natural to the human 
heart; to want to get even with an enemy is a common 
sin. It has even been popular to boast of vindictiveness; it 
was once inscribed on a monument to a hero that he had re- 
paid both friends and enemies more than he had received. 
This was not the spirit of Christ. He taught forgiveness 
and in that incomparable prayer which he left as a model 
for our petitions He made our willingness to forgive, the 
measure by which we may claim forgiveness. He not only 
taught forgiveness but He exemplified His teachings in His 



121 

life. When those who persecuted Him brought Him to the 
most disgraceful of all deaths, His spirit of forgiveness rose 
above His sufferings and He prayed, "Father, forgive them, 
for they know not what they do!" 

But love is the foundation of Christ's creed. The world 
had known love before; parents had loved children and 
children, parents; husband had loved wife and wife, hus- 
band; and friend had loved friend; but Jesus gave a new 
definition of love. His love was as boundless as the sea; its 
limits were so far-flung that even an enemy could not travel 
beyond it. Other teachers sought to regulate the lives of 
their followers by rule and formula, but Christ's plan was, 
first to purify the heart and then to leave love to direct the 
footsteps. 

What conclusion is to be drawn from the life, the teach- 
ings and the death of this historic figure? Reared in a 
carpenter shop; with no knowledge of literature, save 
Bible literature; with no acquaintance with philosophers 
living or with the writings of sages dead, this young man 
gathered disciples about Him, promulgated a higher code 
of morals than the world had ever known before, and pro- 
claimed Himself the Messiah. He taught and performed 
miracles for a few brief months and then was crucified; 
His disciples were scattered and many of them put to death; 
His claims were disputed, His resurrection denied and His 
followers persecuted, and yet from this beginning His re- 
ligion has spread until millions take His name with rever- 
ence upon their lips and thousands have been willing to 
die rather than surrender the faith which He put into their 
hearts. How shall we account for Him? "What think ye 
of Christ?" It is easier to believe Him divine than to ex- 
plain in any other way what He said and did and was. And 
I have greater faith even than before since I have visited 
the Orient and witnessed the successful contest which 
Christianity is waging against the religions and philosophies 
of the East. 

I was thinking a few years ago of the Christmas which 
was then approaching and of Him in whose honor the day 
is celebrated. I recollected the message. Peace on earth, good 
will to men, and then my thoughts ran back to the prophecy 



122 

uttered centuries before His birth, in which He was de- 
scribed as the Prince of Peace. To re-inforce my memory 
I re-read the prophecy and found immediately following a 
verse which I had forgotten — a verse which declares that 
of the increase of His peace and government there shall be 
no end, for, adds Isaiah, "He shall judge His people with 
justice and with judgment.'' Thinking of the prophecy I 
have selected this theme that I may present some of the 
reasons which lead me to believe that Christ has fully 
earned the title. The Prince of Peace, and that in the years 
to come it will be more and more applied to Him. Faith 
in Him brings peace to the heart and His teachings, when 
applied, will bring peace between man and man. And if 
He can bring peace to each heart, and if His creed will 
bring peace throughout the earth who will deny His right 
to be called The Prince of Peace? 

All the world is in search of peace; every heart that ever 
beat has sought for peace and many have been the methods 
eraployed to secure it. Some have thought to purchase it 
with riches and they have labored to secure wealth, hoping 
to find peace when they were able to go where thej^ pleased 
and buy what they liked. Of those who have endeavored 
to purchase peace with money, the large majority have 
failed to secure the money. But what has been the experi- 
ence of those who have been successful in accumulating 
money? They all tell the same story, viz., that they spent 
the first half of their lives trying to get money from others 
and the last half trying to keep others from getting their 
money and that they found peace in neither half. Some 
have even reached the point where they find diflculty in 
getting people to accept their money; and I know of no 
better indication of the ethical awakening in this country 
than the increasing tendency to scrutinize the method of 
money making. A long step in advance will have been 
taken when religious, educational and charitable institutions 
refuse to condone immoral methods in business and leave 
the possessor of ill-gotten gains to learn the loneliness of 
life when one prefers money to morals. 

Some have sought peace in a social distinction, but 
whether they have been within the charmed circle and 



123 

fearful lest they might fall out, or outside and hopeful that 
they might get in, they have not found peace. 

Some have thought, vain thought! to find peace in 
political prominence; but whether of&ce comes by birth, 
as in monarchies, or by election, as in republics, it does not 
bring peace. An office is conspicuous only when few can 
occupy it. Only when few in a generation can hope to 
enjoy an honor do we call it a great honor. I am glad that 
our Heavenly Father did not make the peace of the human 
heart depend upon the accumulation of wealth, or upon the 
securing of social or political distinction, for in either case 
but few could have enjoyed it; but when He made peace 
the reward of a conscience void of offense toward God and 
man. He put it within the reach of all. The poor can secure 
it as easily as the rich, the social outcast as freely as the 
leader of society and the humblest citizen equally with those 
who wield political power. 

To those who have grown grey in the faith I need not 
speak of the peace to be found in the behalf in an over- 
ruling Providence. Christ taught that our lives are pre- 
cious in the sight of God, and poets have taken up the theme 
and woven it into immortal verse. No uninspired writer has 
expressed the idea more beautifully than William CuUen 
Bryant in the Ode to a Waterfowl. After following the 
wanderings of the bird of passage as it seeks first its north- 
ern and then southern home, he concludes: 

Thou art gone; the abyss of heaven 

Hath swallowed up thy form, but on my heart 

Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given, 
And shall not soon depart. 

He who from zone to zone, 

Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, 
In the long way that I must tread alone, 

Will lead my steps aright. 

Christ promoted peace by giving us assurance that a line 
of communication can be established between the Father 
above and the child below. And who will measure the con- 
solation that has been brought to troubled hearts by the 
hour of prayer? 



124 

And immorality I Who will estimate the peace which 
a belief in a future life has brought to the sorrowing? You 
may talk to the young about death ending all, for life is full, 
hope is strong, but preach not this doctrine to the mother 
who stands by the death-bed of her babe or to one who is 
within the shadow of a great affliction. When I was a 
young man I wrote to Colonel IngersoU and asked him for 
his views on God and immortality. His secretary answered 
that the great infidel was not at home but enclosed a copy 
of a speech which covered my question. I scanned it with 
eagerness and found that he had expressed himself about 
as follows: "I do not say that there is no God, I simply 
say I do not know. I do not say that there is no life beyond 
the grave, I simply say I do not know." And from that 
day to this I have not been able to understand how any one 
could find pleasure in taking from any human heart a living 
faith and substituting therefore the cold and cheerless doc- 
trine, "I do not know." 

Christ gave us proof of immortality and yet it would hardlj^ 
seem necessary that one should rise from the dead to con- 
vince us that the grave is not the end. To every created 
thing God has given a tongue that proclaims a resurrection. 

If the Father deigns to touch with divine power the cold 
and pulseless heart of the buried acorn and to make it burst 
forth from its prison walls, will He leave neglected in the 
earth the soul of man, made in the image of his Creator? 
If He stoops to give to the rose bush, whose withered 
blossoms float upon the autumn breeze, the sweet assurance 
of another springtime, will He refuse the words of hope to 
the sons of men when the frosts of winter come? If matter, 
mute and inanimate, though changed by the forces of 
nature into a multitude of forms can never die, will the 
spirit of man suffer annihilation when it has paid a brief 
visit like a royal guest to this tenement of clay? No I am 
as sure that there is another life as I am that I live today! 

In Cairo I secured a few grains of wheat that had 
slumbered for more than three thousand years in an 
Egyptian tomb. As I looked at them this thought came into 
my mind; If one of those grains had been planted on the 
banks of the Nile the year after it grew, and all its lineal 



12i 
cLescEEid-antbs planted and replanted from tliat time until 
mow, its progeny would today be sufficiently numerous to 
feed the teeming millions of the world. There is in the 
rgrain of wheat an invisible something which has power to 
discard the body that we see^ and from earth and air fashion 
:a new body so much like the old one that we can not 
tell the one from the other. If this invisible germ of life 
in the grain of wheat can thus pass unimpaired through 
three thousand resurrections, I shall not doubt that my soul 
lias power to clothe itself with a body suited to its new ex- 
istence when this earthly frame has crumbled into dust. 

A belief in immortality not only :3ondoles the individiial 
ibut it exerts a powerful influence in bringing peace between 
individuals. If one really thinks that man dies as the brute 
dies, he may yield to the temptation to do injustice to his 
neighbor when the circumstances are such as to promise 
security from detection. But if one really expects to m.eet 
ragain, and live eternally with those whom he knows today, 
lie is restrained from evil deeds by the fear of endless remorse. 
We do not know what rewards are in store for us or what 
punishment may be reserved, but if there is no other pun- 
ishment it would be enough for one who deliberately and 
consciously wrongs another to have to live forever in the 
company of the person wronged and have his littleness and 
selfishness laid bare, . I repeat, a belief in immortality must 
exert a powerful influence^ in establishing Justice between 
men and thus laying the foundation for peace. 

Again Christ deserves to be called The Prince of Peace 
because He has given us a measure of greatness which pro- 
motes peace. When His disciples disputed among them- 
selves as to which should be greatest in the Kingdom of 
Heaven, He rebuked them and said.: "Let him who would 
toe chief est among you be the servant of all, " Service is 
the measure of greatness; it always has been true, it is true 
today, and it always will be true, that he is greatest who 
does the most of good. And yet, what a revolution it will 
work in this old world when this standard becomes the stand- 
ard of life! Nearly all of our controversies and combats arise 
from the fact that we are trying to get something from each 
other — there will be peace when our aim is to do something 



126 

for each other. Our enmities and animosities arise from onr 
efforts to get as much as possible out of the world — ^there 
will be peace when our endeavor is to put as much as pos- 
sible into the world. Society will take an immeasureable 
step toward peace when it estimates a citizen by his output 
rather than by his income and gives the crown of its approv- 
al to the one who makes the largest contribution to the wel- 
fare of all. It is the glory of the Christian ideal that, while 
it is in sight of the weakest and the lowliest, it is yet so 
high that the best and the noblest are kept with their faces 
turned ever upward. 

Christ has also led the way to peace by giving us a formu- 
la for the propagation of good. Not all of those who have 
really desired to do good have employed the Christian meth- 
od — not all Christians even. In all the history of the hu- 
man race but two methods have been employed. The first 
is the forcible method. A man has an idea which he thinks 
is good; he tells his neighbors about it and they do not like 
it. This makes him angry and, seizing a club, he attempts 
to make them hke it. One trouble about this rule is that it 
works both ways; when a man starts out to compel his 
neighbors to think as he does, he generally finds them will- 
ing to accept the challenge and they spend so much time in 
trying to coerce each other that they have no time left to 
be of service to each other. 

The other is the Bible plan — be not overcome of evil but 
overcome evil with good. And there is no other way of 
overcoming evil. I am not much of a farmer — ^I get more 
credit for my farming than I deserve, and my little farm re- 
ceives more advertising than it is entitled to. But I am 
farmer enough to know that if I cut down weeds they will 
spring up again, and I know that if I plant something there 
which has more vitality than the weeds I shall not only get 
rid of the constant cutting but have the benefit of the crop 
besides. 

In order that there might be no mistake about His plan of 
propagating good, Christ went into detail and laid emphasis 
upon the value of example — *'so live that others seeing your 
good works may be constrained to glorify your Father 
which is in Heaven." There is no human influence so po- 



127 
tent for good as that which goes out from an upright 
life. A sermon may be answered; the arguments presented 
in a speech may be disputed, but no one can answer a Chris- 
tian life — it is the unanswerable argument in favor of our 
religion- 
It may be a slow process — this conversion of the world 
by the silent influence of the noble example, but it is the 
only sure one, and the doctrine applies to nations as well as 
to individuals. The gospel of the Prince of Peace gives us 
the only hope that the world has — and it is an increasing 
hope — of the substitution of reason for the arbitrament of 
force in the settlement of international disputes. 

But Christ has given us a platform more fundamental 
than any political party has ever written. We are interest- 
ed in platforms; we attend conventions, sometimes traveling 
long distances; we have wordy wars over the phraseology 
of various planks and then we wage earnest campaigns to 
secure the endorsement of these platforms at the polls. But 
the platform given to the world by the Nazarene is more 
far-reaching and more comprehensive than any platform 
ever written by the convention of any party in any 
country. When He condensed into one commandment those 
of the ten which relate of man's duty towards his fellows 
and enjoined upon us the rule, '*Thou shalt love thy neigh- 
bor as thyself," He presented a plan for the solution of all 
the problems that now vex society or may hereafter arise. 
Other remedies may palliate or postpone the day of settle- 
ment but this is all sufficient and the reconciliation which it 
effects is a permanent one. 

If I were to attempt to apply this thought to various 
questions which are at issue, I might be accused of entering 
the domain of partisan politics, but I may safely apply it to 
two great problems. First, let us consider the question of 
capital and labor. This is not a transient issue or a local 
one. It engages the attention of the people of all countries 
and has appeared in every age. The immediate need in this 
country is arbitration, for neither side to the controversy 
can be trusted to deal with absolute justice, if allowed un- 
disputed control; but arbitration, like a court, is a last re- 
sort. It would be better if the relations between employer 



1-29 

and employee were strcfi as tO' make arbitration unnecessary. 
Just iii proportioru as men recognize their kinship to eacti 
other and deal with each other in the s.piitlt of brotherhood, 
will friendship and. harmony be secured. Both employer 
and employee need to cultivate the s-pirit which fallows frora 
obedience to the commandment. 

The second problem to which I would apply this platform 
of peace is that which relates to the accumulation of wealth. 
We can not mmch longer delay consideration of the ethics of 
money -making. That many of the enormous fortuines which 
have been accumulated in the last quarter of a century are 
now held by men who have given to society no adequate 
service in return for the money secured is now generally 
recognized. While legislation can and should protect the 
public from, predatory wealth; a more effective remedy will 
be found in the cultivation of a pubhc opinion which will 
substitute a higher ideal than the one which tolerates the 
enjoyment of unearned gains. No man who really knows 
what brotherly love is will desire to take advantage of his 
neighbor, and the conscience when not seared will admonish 
against injustice. My faith in the future rests upon the be- 
lief that Christ's teachings are being more studied today 
then ever before and that with this larger study will come 
an application of those teachings to the every day life of 
the world. In former times men read that Christ came to 
bring life and imortality to light and placed the emphasis 
upon immortality; now they are studying Christ's relation to 
human life. In former years many thought to prepare 
themselves for future bliss by a life of seclusion here; now 
they are learning that they can not follow in the footsteps 
'of the Master unless they go about doing good. Christ de- 
clared that He came that we might have life and have it 
more abundantly. The world is learning that Christ came 
not to narrow life but to enlarge it — to fill it with purpose, 
earnestness and happiness. 

But this Prince of Peace promises not only peace but 
strength. Some have thought His teachings fit only for the 
weak and the timid and unsuited to men of vigor, energy 
and ambition. Nothing could be farther from the truth. 
Only the man of faith can be courageous. Confident that 



129 

he fights on the side of Jehovah he doubts not the success 
of his cause. What matters it whether he shares in the 
shouts of triumph? If every word spoken in behalf of truth 
has its influence and every deed done for the right weighs 
in the final account it is immaterial to the Christian whether 
his eyes behold victory or whether he dies in the midst of 
the conflict. 

"Yea, though thou lie upon the dust, 
When they who helped thee flee in fear, 
Die full of hope and manly trust. 
Like those who fell in battle here. 

Another hand thy sword shall wield. 
Another hand the standard wave, 
Till from the trumpets mouth is pealed 
The blast of triumph o'er thy grave." 

Only those who believe attempt the seemingly impossible 
and, by attempting, prove that one with God can chase a 
thousand and two can put ten thousand to flight. I 
can im'agine that the early Christians who were carried in- 
to the arena to make a spectacle for those more savage than 
the beasts, were entreated by their doubting companions 
not to endanger their lives. But, kneeling in the center of 
the arena, they prayed and sang until they were devoured. 
How helpless they seemed and, measured by every human 
rule, how helpless was the cause! And yet within a few 
decades the power which they invoked proved mightier 
than the legions of the emperor and the faith in which they 
died was triumphant o'er all that land. It is said that those 
who went to mock at their sufferings returned asking them- 
selves, "What is it that can enter into the heart of man and 
make him die as these die?" They were greater conquerors 
in their dearth than they could have been had they purchased 
life by a surrender of their faith. 

What would have been the fate of the church if the early 
Christians had had as little faith as many of our Christians 
now have? And, on the other hand, if the Christians of to- 
day had the faith of the martyrs, how long would it be be- 
fore the fulfillment of the prophecy that every knee shall 
bow and every tongue confess? 



130 

Our faith should be even stronger than the faith of those 
who hved two thousand years ago, for we see our rehgion 
spreading and supplanting the philosophies and creeds of 
of the Orient. 

As the Chirstian grows older he appreciates more and 
more the completeness with which Christ fills the require- 
ments of the heart and, grateful for the peace which he en- 
joys and for the strength which he has received, he repeats 
the word of the great scholar, Sir William Jones: 

"Before thy mystic altar, heavenly truth, 

I kneel in manhood, as I knelt in youth; 

Thus let me kneel, till this dull form decay. 

And life's last shade be brightened by thy ray." 



THE mriDEL AND THE CHILD 



As a rule the infidel lets his child grow up without moral 
training. Since he does not believe in God and God's laws 
what can he teach his child? He is like a man who smokes. 
He dare not teach his child to smoke and while the infidel 
pretends that he does not believe in God yet even he does 
not dare to teach that to his child. Consequently if the 
child of an infidel does not become early in life a hardened 
criminal, a public menace and a disgrace to his family, it is 
because he has a mother who has taught him to believe in 
God and love Him and keep His laws, or else he has learned 
these things in some such place as the Sunday School, with 
other Christian people. 

It is true that not all boys are criminals because they have 
not had Christian teaching. Some boys are hard to teach 
and hard to control. But if we know what a boy's parents 
are and what his companions are, we can judge nearly what 
the boy will be. Many a boy has gone to the penitentiary 
because of an utter lack of attention. Teach your boys to 
be industrious; the idle moments are full of danger, Teach 
your boys to be saving. There is a saying, "Any fool can 
make money", but I say, "He is a bigger fool who spends 
money carelessly". It is dangerous for a man to draw a 
large salary and not know how to spend it, and if the child 
has not been taught to be careful of his pennies he will not 
know how to be careful of the dollars. 

The infidel does not realize the importance of training the 
religious nature of the child. He does not understand the 
relation that exists between the spiritual and the mental, nor 
does he realize the close relation that exists between the at- 
titude that a man has toward God and the attitude that he 
has toward his fellow man. Neither does he realize the in- 
timate connection between duty to God and duty to man. 



132 

And if he does riot teach his child his responsibihty toward 
God the child will not feel much responsibility toward his fel- 
low men. 

Many of the infidels who have exerted the strongest influ- 
ence over others have done so not merely because of what 
they said but because they live good lives, and when this 
has been the case it has been due to the fact that some time 
in their lives they have received considerable Christian 
training. The very Christian training which they decry 
and which they will not give their children has given them 
their best conceptions, and for any man to neglect to give 
his child any training in the great truths of religion is to 
forfeit the right to be a parent; is to do the child a far great- 
er act of injustice than to refuse him some of the necessities 
of life. Far better would it be if the child had no knowledge 
of books than that he should have no knowledge of God. 
College education alone is dangerous to any boy. . 



THE INFIDEL AND GOD 



Many infidels say that there is no God, and that if there 
were, He would be more merciful to the suffering. My dear 
friends we all have to die. That is God's will and we can 
not expect Him to change it. It might be far worse to live 
forever in this world. 

So many people object to being governed by God, but He 
might have left us in the same condition as the wild beast 
or he might not have created us at all. As it is, He has 
given us our free wills and placed us upon the earth where 
we could use our free wills, and has made it possible for us 
to become better or worse according to the way in which we 
use these wills of ours. The trouble with the infidel is not 
that he does not believe that there is a God, but that he 
cannot do what he wishes to do. He is always in search of 
some new form of pleasure, and thus lowering himself to 



133 
tlie level of the brnte. He is not living a life worth living 
ibut is existing- He is f aihng to work out for himself the 
Mnd of character tliat God intended he should have. His 
God is a n^atural God or nature herself. But it puzzles me 
and it must pnzzle him more to try to understand how the 
universe, the sun, the moon and the stars can regulate them- 
selves. If there is not a God, making provisions for man 
and beast, from whence have come the grains and the water, 
the gold and the coal, the salt and the fish, the sheep, the 
cow and the horse, the birds, the flowers and grasses? 

To the enlightened and devout mind, every season has its 
charm. In summer are seen the hills and vales clothed in 
their robes of green; flocks of sheep, herds of cattle and 
droves of swine graze amid the foliage, while overhead are 
the butterfly and the music of the bird and the buzzing of 
the bee. Even mid- winter has its charms for the Christian 
student. How beautiful is the face of the world when the 
morning sun rises clear upon the fields embosomed in snow! 
How delightful to behold the hills and the valleys mantled 
in pure white, reflecting the sunbeams in varied tints from 
a thousand points! How beauteous the grove and each in- 
dividual tree robed in fleecy whiteness, sparkling beneath 
the early sun! And the icy bosom of lake and stream, like 
mirrors, receiving and reflecting the images of the rocks 
and hills, of flying clouds and bending trees! What a de- 
lightful combination of objects! What a splendid and daz- 
zling array does the earth represent! Who sees not in all 
these a God? 

Why is it that the infidel is never satisfied? It is because 
he has not found that which his real self demands. Why is 
it that as yet no tribe of men has been found which has not 
worshipped God in some form? Why is it that among the wri- 
tings of all the ancient wise men we find gropings after the 
true God? Why is it that this world has changed so much 
since the man Christ lived in it? What is it- that has made 
men live different lives, and even go joyfully to death? I 
reply, "It is the love of God which has been in their hearts^ 
and the effect of God's spirit moving in the hearts of men 
was never so real as it is today and he who cannot see God 
in the history of the past and the present and in the promise 



134 

of the future, he Tvho cannot read God in the change which 
has taken place in the relation of man with man in the cen- 
turies that have passed since Christ hved is truly bhnd."' - 



PAEAGRAPHS 

AThat Christianity does for Man. 

It raises him above the beasts. It makes him speak the 
truth. It stops him speaking- evil of his neighbors. It puts 
love into his heart. It gives him real wisdom. It gives 
him liberty of thought. It sweetens his home life. It helps 
to keep him from poverty, for he leams how to save. It 
makes him shun bad company. It keeps him away from sa- 
loons. It makes him a clean man. It gives him a desire to 
hear the truth. It makes him treat his neighbor as he would 
be treated. It makes him establish and obey good laws. 
It makes him liA*e in peace. It makes him happj^. It makes 
him keep the Sabbath. It makes him build hospitals, or- 
phanages, schools and churches in place of saloons and gam- 
bling houses. It will eventuallv make wars to cease. Trv it. 



There is but one remedy for evils. It is the Democracy 
of the Gospel of Christ, a recognition of the brotherhood of 
man. There is but one hope for the world, and that is the 
extension of the pure religion of Christ. Forms of govern- 
ment are of little avail so long as the men who wield them 
are selfish and depraved. When the hearts of men are 
changed by the influence of Christianity so that the lion-like 
man becomes lamb-like, then, and not until then, will the 
sword be beaten into the plow-share. Governments become 
better only so far as the men who organize and administer 
them become better. There may be republican empires and 
despotic republics. The voice of all history proclaims that 
in the religion of Jesus is to be found the only hope foi» the 
lost world. 

HISTORY OF ITALY. 



135 
The wicked man is not satisfied with life and seeks pleas- 
ure in sin. When he is sick the pleasure of life is gone and 
his sufferings become intolerable, and it is impossible to 
please him. Some very wicked men look very peaceful 
when dead, because the devil has then departed from them; 
but the Christian should always be happy and peaceful, 
ready to bear the burdens that come to him, for God and 
not Satan is his constant companion, and in this companion- 
ship of God he finds peace and satisfaction. " 



There is always need of reform in this wicked world and 
what better profession could a man choose than to preach 
truth and teach men to do right? Gladstone says, "After 
all, a man cannot build himself so high a monument with all 
his riches as he can by teaching and bringing men to repent- 
ance." Charles W. Waddell says, "I would rather be called 
of God to the ministry than to occupy the highest office of 
any government upon earth." 

If we work upon marble it will perish, if we work upon 
brass, time will deface it, if we rear temples they will crum- 
ble into dust but if we work upon mortal minds, if we im- 
bue them with principles of the fear of God and the love of 
our fellow, man we engrave on those tablets something that 
will shine throughout the ages and lift a load of sorrow from 
the hearts of many. 



There is a good deal of complaint over the fact that it 
costs a good deal of money to carry on the churches. But 
the men who are doing the complaining are not Christians 
who are carrying on the good work, but the ones who never 
pay a cent for any good cause but spend it for booze and at 
the same time make all the trouble they can for their families. 
And all the while he is finding fault with the Church, the 
Church is doing all it can to help him out of the ditch. 
While it costs a good deal to carry on the churches, it does 
not cost one fifth as much as these same men spend for liq- 
uor, which is a curse to both body and soul. And the cost 
of maintaining the churches is only equal to the amount 
which men burn up in tobacco, which they think is not a 
large sum. 



136 

It IS always easy to find men who imagine they know all 
about some one's else business. Once in a while a farmer 
Hndertakes to tell the merchant how he ought to run his; 
store y and then again there are some merchants who talk as 
though they knew all about farming. So it goes, the world 
over. And often the men who talk the most about the way 
other folks ought to do their work, know Least about the 
matter. 

There are to be. found those w^ho are talking and writing 
about Christianity^ men who have lost all faith in God and 
humanity, and who are saying that the world is losing inter- 
est in the Church. Such men must have received their in- 
formation from such fiiends as Dr. Iska who is always lead- 
ing men astray. Statistics show that more money is being 
spent for churches and other religious institutions and there 
are more Christian workers than ever before. 

I here copy part of an article written by E. M. Gamps, of 
New York, manager of the Church News Association. The 
article appeared in the St. Louis Globe -Democrat. He was 
asked to present figures to show the increase or decrease in 
church membership in proportion to the population and the 
increase or decrease in the number of churches and the con- 
tributions for missionarj^ work. He says: 

All history has not presented such growth in a century 
as that of the Disciples of Christ — ^viz., from nothing to 
1,330,000 members. The Episcopal Church had its largest 
year last year according to figures just published. In 1890 
it passed its 500,000 mark in membership. It will pass its 
1,000,000 in 1912; showing as large growth in twenty-two 
years last past as during the nearly 300 years from 1607 down 
to 1890. Never mind why. These are the facts. Immigra- 
tion helps the Roman Catholics and the Lutherans, it is true, 
but it also helps the population and brings in added burdens 
to the churches. 

One may say that these memberships, even if real, are 
sentimental. It costs $300,000,000 a year to maintain all of 
the Christian churches of America. And it never cost so 
much as it did last year. Christians are paying this money. 
Others are not doing so. The amount invested in churches 
in America in 1906 was exactly twice that of 1800. Double 



137 
the value in sixteen years. 

It may be argued that these gifts are for the private glory 
and public advantage of the people who worship in the 
churches named. The arguments rest on nothing, but grant 
them for the moment, and turn to foreign missions. Surely no- 
body in America can gain anything to his personal advan- 
tage by helping to spread the gospel in India, in China, in 
Japan, in the islands of the seas. He cannot be charged 
with self-seeking in so doing. What is the record? The 
growth of gifts to foreign missions last year was $1,767,000, 
and it reached in total amount the high- water mark of $24,500, 
000. Of this sum American and Canadian gifts are 71 per 
cent, or $1,256,000, the largest sum ever given in a single 
year by Christians of the countries named. 

If anybody thinks that foreign missions are supported for 
private advantage, let him take the situation last year re- 
garding hospitals in New York City. Every hospital in 
New York, with the possible exception of the municipal 
institutions, owes its existence to religious, Christian or He- 
brew, influence. It cost last year to maintain these hospitals 
$3,557,000. Nobody ever before knew such altruism. 
There is income from endowments amounting to $581,000 
and from pay patients of $989,000. The city gives $458,000, 
but $1,545,000 was given by private persons. Outsiders 
gave some of it. If those who were ill, depended 
upon people outside of the churches to help them they 
would fare badly indeed. The number of free patients who 
were given beds in New York hospitals last year was 44,762. 
What claim has the sick man and poor upon a Christian 
man whom he does not know, who never heard of him, that 
he has not upon the man who does not belong to some 
church? Yet 95 per cent of the money that goes to help 
the sick poor is given in the name of religion. Forty per 
cent of the population belong to the churches. Where are 
the responsibilities of the 60 percent who do not? Why don't 
they give? If Christianity is failing, are those outside the 
churches succeeding? 

If hospitals, inspired and erected by religion, be religious 
institutions that must be supported by the projectors, and 
the 60 per cent of the population are relieved of obligation, 



138 

what can be said in the case of a San Francisco earthquake 
or a Galveston flood, or an India famine? From 70 to 90 per 
cent of all moneys contributed to these causes is contributed 
by Christian people. What obligations to a Messina earth- 
quake sufferer rested upon an American Christian that did not 
rest also upon an American who does not admit Christianity? 

But that is not all. There is now sweeping over the coun- 
try the greatest missionary campaign America has ever 
witnessed. 

Poor Tursus! 

The town of Tursus, near the eastern coast of the Medi- 
terranean Sea has been brought into considerable promi- 
nence by the Turkish massacres which have taken place 
there. 

Tarsus once had a famous citizen, named Saul, later call- 
ed Paul. After his conversion he began to realize that the 
brotherhood of man was the only principle which could 
save civilization and the world. This he tried to tell to his 
own city, but Tarsus would not listen. After this he went to 
other cities which listened to the glad gospel of good will to 
men and from these the story has spread through all the 
world. 

But poor Tarsus would not accept the truth. But in the 
ensuing centuries those nations that became great did so as 
they recognized the force of Paul's teachings. Meanwhile 
Tarsus, once an important city, became less and less impor- 
tant, and had it not been that it was the birthplace of Paul 
it had entirely passed out of the memory of man until it was 
again brought to the notice of the world through the 
massacres. 

"Poor deaf Tarsus I 

The message only makes it angry; it tries to kill the 
missionaries, as if it thought their deaths would silence 
Paul's message that has rung through the centuries — 'all 
men are brothers.' 

Poor, deaf Tarsus, that will not hear the truth Paul 
preached. Now, instead, because it was deaf then, it must 
hear the shrieks of the dying victims of bloody massacre. 

The telegraph wires of a Christian civilization bring us 
the news that in the filthy heathen streets of Tarsus and in 



139 

the squalid heathen homes, men are killing each other and 
women and children because Tarsus is still trying to believe 
that Paul was wrong when he said, 'all men are brothers.' 

'All men are brothers' is the truest message ever given 
to man. The nation that will not believe it must die; the 
city that will not believe it must share the fate of Tarsus; 
the man or woman who will not believe it shall go down to 
his grave in hate and despair. 

Paul's message still rings from the streets of Tarsus. 
They may kill the followers of Paul, but other missionaries 
will take their places and Tarsus will never escape the mes- 
sage until it fades off the world's map." 



A few remarks on secret orders may not be out of place. 
All men are brothers without the necessity of belonging to 
any secret orders. Secret orders may become a danger to 
the country, the community or the individual. Any orders 
can be useful without secrecy. Secrecy never accomplished 
much. I have been watching the workings of secret orders 
for a good many years and I cannot see where any of the or- 
ders such as the Free Masons, are doing much to put down 
wrong in our land. I believe in protective orders, but do not 
believe they should be secret. We who are of the light, 
whose deeds are not evil should prefer to walk in light and 
not in the darkness of secrecy. Remember Christ's words, 
"They love darkness because their deeds are evil". 



Men will preach Republicanism, demogogism and socialism 
without accomplishing anything, because they do not get at 
the root of the matter, the evil heart of man. Not until all 
men are convinced of the truth that in the teaching of Christ 
lies the salvation of man, will they cease to rely on themselves 
and cease to hoard ill-gained goods. Not until then will the 
bloodstained sword be forever sheathed, and peace and good 
will to men rule on earth. 



Invest your talents where they will increase. Do not in- 
vest them in strong drink so that you may not be a slave all 
your days. Many men have started out on an equal with oth- 
ers but while one preferred to invest his talents where they 



140 

would count, the other has invested his in time spent in the 
saloon and then looks with jealousy and hatred at his broth- 
er who has risen so far above him, and preaches the doctrine 
that his brother should divide his savings with him. That 
is socialism. 



ADVICE TO UNMARRIED WOMEN 



Do not marry a man that has not a bright future before 
him. Do not marry a drinking man. Do not marry a god- 
less man. Do not marry a man who has not a home to take 
you to. Unless you comply with these rules, you will help 
to swell the number of those who are keeping the divorce 
courts busy. 

The marriage vow is the most sacred of all vows. Our 
civil government has given to justices of the peace the right 
to perform the marriage ceremony. In point of law a mar- 
riage by a civil magistrate is just as binding as that per- 
formed by a clergyman; but it seems to me that it is handing 
over to the State a matter which is so sacred that it ought 
not to be made secular. "Render unto Caesar the things 
that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are 
God's." The place for a marriage ceremony is in God's 
house or at the family altar, performed by a man of God. 
The reason why many go to the justice is because they will 
often perform the ceremony when the Church will refuse to 
do so. I know that there has been much complaint as to 
certain abuses by the priests such as over-charges, but we 
are living in the land of the free and if one clergyman will 
not treat us fairly, we have the privilege of going to anoth- 
er, and we can go to the Protestant clergyman, who do not 
ask large sums. I know of one Protestant parson who mar- 
ried a poor couple for a peck of white beans. 



141 
My wish in writing this book is that I might somehow 
touch the evil hearts of men and cause them to turn from 
their wickedness and serve God. They would then abstain 
from all forms of sin and from strong drink, and I would 
have done more for the poor wives and children than if I 
had given them a million dollars. 



We must not rely too much on our will power for it may 
fail us. I knew two young men who had been brought up 
together in the Sunday School. There came a day of 
parting and one said to the other, "John, I am going out in- 
to the world and see life. I am not going to stay here with 
these ignorant church people and be tied down to my moth- 
er's apron strings." The last time that John heard of his 
friend he was serving a sentence behind the bars while 
John was enjoying a life of prosqerity among his "ignor- 
ant" Christian neighbors. The other had taken his chances 
with Satan and the world and had drifted into bad company. 
Relying on his own strength, his will power, if you please, 
he fell- Many a strong man has said, "I am no weakling. 
I can take a drink or let it alone." But these very men are 
the ones who die in a drunkard's grave. 



Every intelligent man ought to realize that it does not 
pay to be dishonest. The man who deliberately chooses to 
be an outlaw is either a fool or a mad man. 

How much better it is to walk honestly before the world 
and to be able to look the whole world in the face than it is 
to sit on some one's else broadcloth. 



PART III. 



INTEMPERANCE 

The Saloon Problem. 



If Satan himself were to call a convention of all haters of 
humanity, of all the cold-blooded and cruel spirits on earth 
or in hell, nobody would believe that the combined counsel 
of their evil intelligence would ever be able to devise any- 
thing more effective in its power to destroy home life than 
the licensed saloon. 

LOUIS ALBERT BANKS. 

The saloon is a law-breaker. It has refused to obey any 
regulation unless it was forced to. It has sold to minors 
and drunkards; it has kept open Sundays and after mid- 
night; it has permitted thieving and strong arm work to go 
on under its roof; it has permitted men who got drunk in- 
side its walls to wake up in the morning in the alley with- 
out their money and almost without their clothes; it has run 
brothels and gambling places. It is a habitual law breaker. 

THE DELINEATOR. 

The saloon is a school for vice and poverty, and the wives 
and children are the greatest sufferers. The liquor manu- 
facturers tell us that saloons make business. They do make 
business for the liquor dealer but in what way does it bene- 
fit the laboring man's family if the laborer receives $5. per 
day for his work and spends $4. of it for drink, which gives 
revenue for the building of public works and clothes the 
wife of the saloon keeper in fine feathers while the poor 
man's wife goes in rags? And in spite of it all the poor 
laborer would rather destroy any other industry than that 
of the brewery. These men are dangerous citizens and 



143 

always object to the liquor laws, poor as they are, and wish 
to dictate such laws as will protect the liquor dealers even 
though our country and our homes go to the dogs. These 
are the same men who are so ready to take part in strikes 
for no other purpose than that they may have more money 
to spend for liquor. It is true that the municipalities and 
the government receive from the saloon keepers in the form 
of license money a great deal of revenue, but the cost of 
public buldings, etc., which are erected and maintained by 
these same revenues, if apportioned out as a direct tax 
would amount to less than it now costs to maintain prisons, 
hospitals and poorhouses. The revenue which the govern- 
ment derives from the liquor business is blood money. 

The liquor manufacturer is trying to convince the farmer 
that Prohibition means the ruination of the barley market; 
they even go farther and try to prove that Prohibition does 
not prohibit, that there is a greater amount of drunkenness 
in the Prohibition states than in non- Prohibition states. If 
the latter fact is true, it means that more liquor must be 
drunk and sold and if that is the fact the liquor interests 
ought to be in favor of Prohibition. If a lessening of the 
manufacture of alcoholic liquors will lower the market price 
of such grains as barley, then the farmer who has been 
raising barley can raise something else which will then have 
a higher market price than now, for a decrease in the con- 
sumption of alcoholic liquors gives the laboring man more 
money to spend for his table and thereby increases the 
demand for all farm products. If Prohibition is detri- 
mental to the country and if the liquor traffic is useful be- 
cause it furnishes employment for many and increases the 
price of certain farm products, why is it that the consump- 
tion of these same liquors makes necessary so much charity? 
How can we get around the facts proved by the testimony of 
the custodians of jails and asylums that ninety per cent of 
all crime and insanity in our country today has drunkenness 
as its direct cause? How can we controvert the fact that 
state schools for the feeble-minded are filled with the child- 
ren of drunken parents? What explanation can be made of 
the fact that the state orphan school is filled with children 
whose parents died of drunkenness? 



144 

In comparing' the number of prisoners in a Prohibition state 
with those in a non- Prohibition state, the men who are wri- 
ting in behalf of the hquor interests choose Kansas as a rep- 
resentative Prohibition state. Now in Kansas there are both 
a mihtary and a civil United States prison containing 1,450 
out of the 2,740 with which the state is accredited. There is 
an accumulation gathered from other liquor states. There 
are over 500 sent from Oklahoma. The fact is that since 
Kansas voted Prohibition she has jail room to rent. 

I do not deny the fact that a town which licenses saloons 
has more money to spend for public improvements than its 
Prohibition sister towns could have without levying a tax. 
But I should like to ask where the license money comes from. 
It is true the saloon keeper pays it to the municipality, but 
he does so with the expectation of receiving it back many 
fold from his customers. If, then, the license is paid out of 
the profit on the liquor, and if the presence of the saloon ne- 
cessitates the building and maintenance of a jail and the em- 
ployment of guardians of the peace, who is it that really pays 
for the public improvements? Would it not be easier to pro- 
vide for public improvements by direct taxation, and distri- 
bute the cost equitably among all property owners than to 
make these same pubhc improvements out of the money taken 
from the wives and families of the drunkards, and in addi- 
tion to be obliged to levy a direct tax for the maintenance of 
prisons, orphanages and asylums? 

Let me here give a report of the harvest garnered by the 
liquor interests of our country in one year. 

5,000 suicides. 

3,000 murdered wives. 

10,000 murders. 

40,000 widowed mothers. 

60,000 fallen girls. 

100,000 orphaned children. 

100,000 insane 

100,000 criminals. 

100,000 drunkards who die yearly. 
Also untold crimes, misery, want, weeping, worry, shame, 
disgrace, ruin and an expenditure of $2,000,000,000 in cash. 
A New York preacher, in an address, said: "It is estimated 



145 
that New York spends $1,000,000 a day for liquor, most of it 
bad, which amounts to more than half as much as the a- 
mount required to run the Unites States government. The 
annual drink bill of New York is more than the entire a- 
mount received for tariff. The interest on the city's annual 
drink bill at four per cent is nearly equal to the income of 
all the universities and colleges in the United States." 

Warden Sanders, in an address at Marshalltown, said: 
"You cannot run the licensed saloon on one side of the street 
and avoid poverty on the other. Prevention is better than 
cure. Liquor is responsible for ninety percent of the crimi- 
nals." 

Judge Butler of Illinois, once remarked: "The case at 
the bar is the seventy-sixth murder case I have tried, either 
as a state's attorney or as a judge, during the past nineteen 
years. I have kept a careful record of each case, and I 
have to say that in seventy-five cases out of the seventy-six 
liquor was the cause." 

A recent number of the Delineator contains the follow- 
ing- 
Many men, in many cities, enter a saloon merely for the 
purpose of getting a drink. At the bar they find women, 
learn that there are rooms for rent upstairs, and are led in- 
to vices which they had not contemplated when they enter- 
ed the place. Saloons are centers of gambling even when 
there are no games carried on. A few years ago a state 
gambling law was passed in New Jersey, anc! where it was 
enforced the slot machines were taken out of the saloons. 
In these slot machines, which are run by a great syndicate, 
one puts a nickel, with the possibility of drawing up to 
twenty nickels. One saloon-keeper in New Jersey told me 
that his slot machine used to be worth $100 a Sunday, half of 
which went to the syndicate and half to him. His customers 
are nearly all colored. Figure this result in one humble 
little joint in a colored neighborhood on one day of the week 
in a small city and then reckon the enormous sums which 
go into these slot machines in saloons over the country and 
into the wide spread faro layouts and other expensive 
games of which western saloons are full. The saloon is 
the center of vices: not one but three. 



-' l-'<:hi If lines .•.,. . ,. : 




A NIGHTS WORK. 



147 

We print the following taken Iromthe V/. C. T. U. Npitio.i- 
al Educator — 

THE CRIME OF CRIMES 

In the catalogue of crime there is no greater, nor more 
despicable, no blacker crime, tlian that of treason. 

The pages of criminal history record no greater treason 
than the betrayal of Christ into the hands of a bloodthirsty 
mob. No greater, blacker criminal than Judas Iscariot, the 
traitor. We read tliat Judas, after committing his dastardly 
act, brought back the pieces of silver and went and hanged, 
himself. Poor fool! his great mistake was that he did at 
hang himself sooner. He tried himself, found himself 
guilty, aud executed himself. He was his own lawyer, 
judge, jury and hangman. In this he was true to his 
miserly greed for money. Was he not the disciple who car- 
ried the purse? And did he not object to the use of such 
costly ointment with which to anoint Christ? 

So Judas haa no public trial; but why has not some 
knight of the pen or brush given us a picture of an imagin- 
ary trial, so that all could see the crime in all its blackness? 
Why doesn't someone, in such a picture, produce the evidence 
pro and con, the lawyer's plea, the judge's charge, the jury's 
verdict, then, most important of all, Judas's rising and re- 
ceiving sentence? 

Let us imagine ourselves in a courtroom. 

The judge orders Judas to be brought forth. There he 
comes, heavily manacled and guarded, his eyes downcast, his 
face the picture of guilt. He stands before the judge, who 
says to him: 

"Judas Iscariot, thou art accused of the crime of treason. 
Art thou guilty or not?" 

Judas stands immovable and speechless. 

"Art thou guilty of the charge or innocent?", repeats the 
judge. 

But Judas still says nothing. 

"Guards, take him to the prisoners' dock," continues the 
judge. "The court will proceed according to the laws and 
customs of this state and nation, to ascertain the guilt or in- 
nocence of this person, and deal with him accordingly." 

The evidence is produced. The lawyer for the prosecution 



148 

portrays the guilt of Judas in language which moves the au- 
dience by turns to violence and to tears. He speaks of the 
love of Christ and His betrayal, he argues eloquently for the 
conviction of Judas, and closes with the applause of the au- 
dience. The prisoner's guard is doubled to prevent his be- 
ing lynched. 

The other lawyer rises. He has little to say on his side. 
He says a few words about the weakness of human nature 
and the proneness to yield to temptation, but closes without 
making a favorable impression. 

The judge charges the jury. The jury agrees without 
leaving the box. The foreman of the jury reads the verdict: 
"The jury finds Judas Iscariot guilty of the crime of trea- 
son." 

"Judas, have you anything to say why sentence of death 
should not be passed upon you?" 

Of course Judas will say nothing. But, what! Look! He 
rises. He clears his husky voice. He speaks. Listen! 

' 'Your honor, I have been tried and found guilty of treason 
to my own soul, of selling for a few pieces of silver the 
Savior of mankind. This charge I shall neither attempt to 
palliate nor deny, but T am asked if I have anything to say 
why sentence of death should not be passed upon me. 

"If this be a court of justice, then I claim equal rights and 
should receive the same punishment as others for like of- 
fences. I charge upon you, my hearers, the same and great- 
er debt than mine. But I am to receive a sentence of death 
and you want to be rewarded." 

Judas hesitates. Those present look at him in dumb 
astonishment, and listen in breathless silence. 

"I charge that you who sit on that bench, you who sit in 
that jury, and you who are present as witnesses for or a- 
gainst me are guilty of selling and betraying innocent blood. 
You ask my evidence? I refer you to the pages of statistics 
which you have compiled yourselves and which, therefore, 
you cannot deny. I charge that you sell, for a few pieces of 
silver, to 250,000 saloons of this country, the right to worse 
than murder 100,000 fair sons and daughters of America. 
I charge that you sell to them the right to send 600,000 
more over the hill to the poorhouse. I charge that you sell 



149 

to them, for a few pieces of silver, the right to rob our 
people of over $2,000,000,000! My crime was great. I sold 
the Savior. They took him, drove nails through his hands 
and feet, put a crown of thorns on his head, and crucified 
Him; but He is gone to glory. Your crime is greater than 
mine, for you have destroyed both body and soul, not of one 
person, but of millions. I have returned the pieces of silver, 
but you have kept yours. I have repented, but you hold your- 
selves blameless. You should therefore receive greater 
punishment then I; for did not Christ himself say 'Inasmuch 
as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my breth- 
ern, ye have done it unto me?' " 

Having finished, Judas sits down. 

The judge, being a man who values his own soul, in a 
husky voice says, "The sentence of the prisoner will for 
the present be postponed." 

Then the court adjourns. Those who are present gather 
in little groups and discuss the situation. They lay the 
whole blame upon the saloon-keeper, but a saloon-keeper 
who is present exclaims: "Don't lay this awful crime on me, 
I am only the instrument of the law which creates the saloons. 
Blame him who made the law." 

But the law maker says, ' ' I only carried out the express- 
ed wishes of the people who elected me. " 

And so the whole responsibility rests upon the shoulders 
of the people. Here we have the modern ' 'house that Jack 
built." 

Here's the drunkard. 

Here's the saloon that made him drunk. 

Here's the law that made the saloon. 

Here's the legislature that made the law, and here is the 
foundation of all, the people that made the legislature. 

I have said this is a modern "house that Jack built." It 
is not. Jack didn't build it. Satan built it himself; and 
when it was finished he rented it out to would-be Christians 
to dwell in. Notice its structure on a foundation of sin. Its 
wall of flesh and blood of ruined thousands. Its windows 
are made of prejudice which shut out the noonday light of 
God's eternal truth; the roof is made of patches of license, 
local option, amendments and a hundred other means to 



150 

hide the inmates from God's blue canopy of heaven. 

The voices going up day and night without ceasing from 
rum-ruined victims make one great demoniacal concert in 
which mingle every note of anguish and despair — ^from the 
sky-piercing tones of maniac screams, down to the blood- 
curdling groans from the murderer in his cell. 

Fellow Christians and fellow ministers, vacate this house! 
Move out! In the name of Christ, in the interest of your 
soul's salvation, in the common interest of humanity move 
out! Move out! MOVE OUT! ! ! 

Complied by Mrs. Josephine E. Austin. 

The following extract is from the life of Carry A. Nation. 

It is significant that the picture of naked women are in 
saloons. Women are stripped of everything by them. Her 
husband is torn from her, she is robbed of her sons, her 
home, her food and her virtue, then they strip her clothes 
off and hang her up in these dens of robbery and murder. 
The motive for this is to suggest vice, animating the 
animal in man, and degrading the respect he should have 
for the sex to whom he owes his being. Yes, the Savior 
also. 

I decide to go to to the Carey for several reasons. It was 
the most dangerous, being the finest saloon. The low dog- 
gery will take the low and keep them low, but these so-called 
respectable ones will take the respectable, make them low, 
and then kick them out. A poor vagabond applied to a bar- 
tender in one of these hells glittering with crystallized tears 
and fine fixtures. The man behind the bar said: "You get 
out, you disgrace my place." The poor creature who had 
been his mother's greatest treasure shuffled out toward the 
door. Another customer came in, a nice looking young man, 
with a good suit and a white collar and looking as if he had 
plenty of money. The smiling bartender mixed a drink and 
was handing it to him. The poor vagabond from the door 
called out: "Five years ago, I came into your place, look- 
ing just like that young man. You have made me what you 
see me now. Give that drink to me and finish your work. 
Don't begin on him." 

The Cleveland Press printed the following: She said 



151 
her heart was breaking. It wouldn't have been a matter of 
much surprise if it had already broken. If a woman's baby 
is in its httle grave, and her husband, on the testimony that 
she couldn't but give, is sentenced to the workhouse, surely 
her cup of sorrow is about as full as it can hold. She could 
not be very much blamed if she rejected his overtures for 
reconciliation there in the courtroom before the judge and 
lawyers and the morbidly curious who looked on. This man 
w^as arraigned for intoxication. His wife was the complain- 
ing witness. She told how their lives had come to ruin 
through his weakness. His weakness — that was strong 
drink. It had wrecked many a life before, but that was no 
consolation to the woman. From her place on the stand 
the woman gazed at the man. She was crying bitterly; she 
made no eifort to hide her tears. "My heart is breaking, 
Ed," she said, glancing at him once, and then averting her 
eyes. "Judge" she said, "he dosn't know what he's doing 
when he's drunk. Before the policeman came he seized me 
by the throat and said he would kill me. I broke away and 
screamed. He spends all his money for drink, while I work 
out to support our little girl. This week he even took two 
dollars from me for liquor. I had earned that money by hard 
work, and my daughter and I needed it. But that made no 
difference to him. A week after our last baby was born he 
knew it could not live. Yet as I lay in bed he struck me in 
the face. You see, nothing made any difference to him 
when he was drunk. Baby died a week later." Her eyes 
traveled back to her husband's face again. "Ed, I'm afraid 
of you," she replied to the mute appeal she saw there. She 
stepped from the stand. Her husband approached her 
humbly. "No, no, Ed," she exclaimed, "I have lost my faith 
in you." He shrunk back. "Twenty-five dollars, cost, and 
thirty days in the work-house," said the judge. What a 
horror this is! And yet such scenes are repeated over and 
over again in every large city with sickening and discourag- 
ing regularity. And such a sentence! It is little more than 
mockery. Not that I blame the judge; he only turned the 
andle of his mill. But is this the best that a Christian 
civilization 3an do with a poor brute like this man, and an 
abused wife and child like his? 



152 

The saloon is like a free hog-'pen. A drug-store is bad e- 
nough. It is there that many men and boys start to drink 
for there it seems more respectable, but later on they go to 
the saloon where they can swill as much beer as they wish 
and become as fat as hogs and look like them. 

The poverty of the laboring class is due, in large measure, 
to the expenditure for alcohohc liquors. Because of the pov- 
erty and suffering which is thereby caused both to the drink- 
ing man himself, and to his family, society is obliged to step 
in and protect the drinking man from himself. 

I heard a man say to a preacher, who was delivering a tem- 
perance lecture, "What is it to you if I drink? It is no mon- 
ey out of your pocket. Mind your own business. There are 
laws to take care of drunkards and criminals." That preach- 
er was minding his business. Is it not right to attempt to 
catch a child and prevent it falhng into a well than to wait 
to try to rescue him once he has fallen in? And besides, 
once a man becomes a drunkard and comes into the clutches 
of the law, he will not be saved from his drunkenness. Did 
a policeman or a judge or a jail sentence ever convert a man? 
Is it not the business of every citizen to want sober neighbors 
who will not abuse their families and throw their support up- 
on the town when he is dead, and who can be trusted to 
take care of his own and others property? 

Once, while in Omaha I heard a man say that he thought 
he was living in a free countrj^. The reason for his remark 
was the fact that the law prohibited the sale of beer on Sat- 
urday night after twelve. But in spite of that fact he man- 
aged to get his beer, so one man said the law would take 
care of things and the other man broke the laws, so I do 
not know how to accommodate a class of men who wish the 
privilege of indulging in intoxicating liquors. 

One of the reasons why such a campaign is now being 
waged against the saloons is due to the fact that they will 
neither respect the laws nor be regulated by them. One of 
the things which has seemed worst in the saloon problem 
has been that of the Sunday open saloon, and many attempts 
have been made to compel them to close. But in at least 
the large cities it has heretofore been impossible to com- 
pel them to close. The following address by Judge Wal- 



153 
lace, of Kansas City, will be of interest in this connection. 

Judge Wallace in his statement says: "It is a mistake 
to suppose that the Sabbath is purely a religious institution 
and that its enforced observance is for the benefit of the 
church. The Sabbath was ordained before man had fallen 
or there was a church or a need for a redeemer. By divine 
example the almighty ordained it by resting from the work 
of creation on the seventh day and He impressed forever up- 
on it its sacred character by 'hallowing' it. The Sabbath 
would be with us had sin never entered the world. Hence, 
when we think logically and historically, it is easy to 
perceive how it is that a desire for a day of rest is a latent 
intuition with the laboring man. The tyranny of six thou- 
sand years of human avarice has not eradicated it. Justice 
Field, so long a member of our United States supreme court, 
was right when, as one of the supreme judges of California, 
he declared that Sunday laws are enacted primarily for the 
protection of labor. We cannot wonder therefore that men 
who work for wages in all the departments of human indus- 
try are sending in the unanimous indorsement of the labor 
unions to which they belong. Nor should we wonder that 
avarice is turning its guns upon the friends of Sunday ob- 
servance. It can on Sunday glut its ravenous maw with 
more of the wages that have been paid to labor than on any 
other three days of the week combined. The Sunday thea- 
tre, as rich a harvest as the Sunday saloon, is proof of this 
fact. 

"But consistent as it is with the needs and constitutution 
of man, the idea of one day in seven as a day of rest was 
not evolved by natural religion or human philosophy. It is 
a divine revelation. It is the peculiar feature of Christianity, 
by which is meant the system of theology taught by the Old 
and New Testaments. Its origin is with the Bible. 

"Upon the two doctrines briefly stated above, namely, 
that the constitution of man requires and the word of God 
commands one day in seven as a day of rest, are grounded 
the Sunday statutes of the several states of the union. With 
rarest exceptions our judicial decisions, whose name is legion, 
rest upon precisely the same foundation. Ministers and 
priests could not have pronounced the Sabbath more sacred 



154 

than have the judges. Sunday, laws have been declared 
constitutional by practically every state in the union. 

"Answering your query as to the cause of the widespread 
movement for Sunday closing, it seems to me that as the 
abuse of the liquor traf&c is aiding the cause of prohibition, 
so the open and defiant desecration of the Sabbath is open- 
ing the eyes of men to the importance of Stmday observance. 

"Answering your inquiry as to the progress of Sunday 
closing, I can only state the facts as to Kansas City. "When 
the grand jury was convened here in September last over 
six hundred retail groceries were open on Sunday. Xow 
they are closed. Every barber shop in the city is closed. 
Retail merchants have closed, except a very few who ob- 
serve some other day as Sunday as permitted by our stat- 
utes. The 2,000 places where cigars and tobacco were for- 
merly sold are obeying the law, excepting now and then a 
clandestine sale. Only three pool halls and theaters defy 
the law and two of the latter have recently closed." 

There is every reason in the world why the saloon and 
the theater should both be closed on Sunday. The theater 
as it is now carried on is a companion with the saloon in 
teaching vice in many forms to young and old. There may 
be some things to be said in favor of the theater as a means 
of recreation during the evenings of the other six days of 
the week, but the plays which are presented in the average 
theater are of such a kind that thej' cannot be helpful in 
creating or maintaining a Sabbath spirit. The sabbath is a 
holy day and not a holiday and it is not fitting that people 
should spend any part of it in the saloon or the theaters. 
The only reason why these are kept open on Sunday is be- 
cause people have nothing to do on those days and are ready 
to spend more money than on other days, and the saloon 
keepers and theater owners wish to take advantage of this 
fact. There are many who do not seem to know what to do 
with themselves on Sunday. There are two means of spend- 
ing this day which are sadly neglected. The first is to at- 
tend the services in the churches, and in the Protestant 
churches enough services are held so that one can never 
lack for something to do. Then for those who do not choose 
to spend so large a part of the day in church, there is the 



155 
home. It is an undisputed fact that home life in America is 
not what it used to be. Our young people spend too much 
time seeking pleasure elsewhere. If we would properly 
cultivate our home life, we should not need the open theater 
or similar places to which we might go on the Sabbath day. 

SUNDAY DESECRATION 

It was but a good social crowd that first broke the Sabbath. 
Once upon a time, many years ago, perhaps centuries, there 
were a few good Christian people gathered together at a 
certain good man's house for the purpose of worship. There 
were not many churches in the land in those days. After the 
services were over, one of the good men, perhaps it was a 
woman, suggested that they have a social game of cards. 
"All right" said one of the deacons, "I will send for a barrel 
of beer and we will just have a good little social time." 

It so happened that the organist could play dance music 
and after these good people had partaken freely of the beer 
it wanted to dance with them and they let it dance with them 
on the Lord's day. They could not control it, it controlled 
them. 

Therefore these good people were the cause of breaking 
the Lord's day. The devil is a sly old coon. He works on 
the good, for the bad he already has. 

There were many other good people in those days who 
said, "If it is no harm for those good people to break the 
Sabbath day, it is no harm for us." Then they all went to 
breaking the Sabbath day and they soon added to cards, 
beer and dances, horse races, open, saloons, gambling, bull 
fights, cock fights, until the Lord's day became one of the 
busiest days in the year. 

It became an open door for most all business, especially 
that of the saloon. If the reader will look around he will 
find it still so in many Roman Catholic countries, or Catholic 
commuunities. Even the priests take a hand at chance, and 
it is no unusual thing to see them dead drunk on their feast 
days. Apparently the priest thinks it not wrong, if the 
people first go to mass, they can then go to all of these vile 
pleasures and twice upset the good they had done. As we 
must blame this first good party of men and women for fall- 



156 

ing, we must also blame the Roman church for falling with 
them. 

Had the priests from their altars spoken against the evils 
of the day, as they did against heretics their churches might 
not have fallen into its present condition. We can today be 
thankful for our first reformers, our Prohibition party, Billy 
Sunday and a Carry Nation. 

The wicked rulers of the Roman Empire knew that with 
the coming of Christ would come the overthrow of their 
wicked government and their idol worship. They well knew 
that the followers of Christ would become the head of every 
good goverment so they put themselves in the way to destroy 
the Nazarene and his followers. Today, if we do not defend 
the Lord's day, the devil will destroy it and make of it a 
play house. If so, the church will perish. Roosevelt said 
that if it were not for the churches, our criminals would be- 
come so numerous that our jails would not hold them and 
we would have to shoot them down like dogs. 

There is no use of argument. Every one knows that by 
allowing a few moral plays all over the country it would 
become corrupt. People are led from bad to worse, from 
show to saloon, more easily than to something good. We 
may just as well nail up the church doors if we make of Sun- 
day a play house. If we are to have one day for sport, let 
us not break the Sabbath, but let us take a part of Monday. 
Our large cities are today closing the Sunday plays as fast 
as they can, and well do they need to do so. 

It is a well founded fact that he only is wise who abstains 
from all intoxicating drinks. He it is who is honest, pays 
his debts, stands for all that is right, is kind to his family, 
respected by all, is the picture of health and is truly happy. 
On the other hand, he is foolish and ignorant who permits 
his brain to become dull and stupefied, his thoughts to be- 
come enslaved and debased through having no other enjoy- 
ment than boozing and card playing. For a few pence he 
toils all day in order that at night he may turn himself into 
a beast. 

There are those who say that alcohol is a human necessity; 
that without it physicians would not know what to do in 
many cases. Such a man is either densely ignorant or does 



157 

not know what he is talking about. The following extracts 
from the life of Carry Nation are convincing as to this mis- 
take. 

A very sneaking, degenerate druggist in Medicine Lodge, 
named Southworth had for years been selling intoxicating 
liquors on the sly. I had gotten in his drug store four bot- 
tles of Schlitz malt. I was going to use them as evidence 
to convict this willy dive keeper. 

One of the bottles I took to a W. C. T. U. meeting and in 
the presence of the ladies I opened it and drank the contents. 
Then I had two of them take me down to a doctor's office. 
I fell limp on the sofa and said, ' 'Doctor, what is the matter 
with me?" 

He looked at my eyes, felt my heart and pulse, shook his 
head and looked grave. 

I said, "Am I poisoned?" "Yes", said the doctor. 

I said: "What poisoned me is that beer you recommended 
Brother Blank to take as a tonic." I resorted to this strata- 
gem to show the effect that beer has upon the system. This 
doctor was a kind man and meant well, but it must have 
been ignorance that made him say beer could ever be used 
as a medicine. 

There was another. Doctor Kocila, in Medicine Lodge who 
used to sell all the whiskey he could. He made a drunkard of 
a very prominent woman of the town who took the Keely 
Cure. She told the W. C. T. U. of the villainy of this doctor 
and she could not have hated any one more. Oh the drunk- 
ards the doctors are making! No physican who is worthy 
of the name will prescribe it as a medicine, for there is not 
one medical quality in alcohol. It kills the living and pre- 
serves the dead. It never preserves anything but death. 
It is made by a rotting process and it rots the brain, body 
and soul; it paralyzes the vascular circulation and increases 
the action of the heart. This is friction and friction in any 
machinery is dangerous and the cure is not hastened but 
delayed. 

Any physician that will prescribe whiskey or alcohol as a 
medicine is either a fool or a knave. A fool, because he 
does not understand his business, for even saying that alco- 
hol arouses the action of the heart; there are medicines that 



158 

will do that and not produce the fatal results of alcoholism 
which is the worst of all diseases. He is a knave because 
his practice is a matter of getting a case and a fee at the 
same time, like a machine agent who breaks the machine 
to get the job of mending it. Alcohol destroys the normal 
condition of all the functions of the body. The stomach is 
thrown out of fix and the patient goes to the doctor for 
stomach pills; the heart, liver, kidneys, and in fact, the whole 
body is in a deranged condition and the doctor has a perpet- 
ual patient." 

The following statement has been agreed upon by the 
Council of the British Medical Temperance Association, the 
American Medical Temperance Association, the Society of 
Medical Abstainers in Germany, the leading physicians in 
England and on the continent. The purpose of this is to 
have a general agreement of opinions of all prominent phy- 
sicians in civilized countries concerning the danger af alco- 
hol, and in this way give support to the efforts made to check 
and prevent the evils from this source. 

"In view of the terrible evils which have resulted from the 
consumption of alcohol, evils which in many parts of the 
world are rapidly increasing, we, members of the medical 
profession, feel it to be our duty, as being in some sense the 
guardians of the public health, to speak plainly of the na- 
ture of alcohol, and of the injury to the individual and the 
dangers to the community which arise from the prevalent 
use of intoxicating liquors as beverages. 

We think that it ought to be known that: 

1. Experiments have demonstrated that even a small 
quantity of alcoholic liquor, either immediately or after a 
short time, prevents perfect mental action, and interferes 
with the functions of the cells and tissues of the body, im- 
pairing self-control by producing other markedly injurious 
effects. Hence alcohol must be regarded as a poison, and 
ought not to be classed among foods. 

2. Observation establishes the fact that a moderate use 
of alcoholic liquors, continued over a number of years, pro- 
duces a gradual deterioration of the tissues of the body, and 
hastens the changes which old age brings, thus increasing the 
average liability to disease (especially to infectious disease) 



159 

and shortening the duration of life. 

3. Total abstainer?, other conditions being similar, can 
perform more work, possess greater power of endurance, 
have on the average less sickness, and recover more quickly 
than non- abstainers, especially from infectious diseases, 
while they altogether escape diseases esecially caused by 
alcohol. 

4. All the bodily functions of man, as of every other 
animal, are best performed in the absence of alcohol, and 
any supposed experience to the contrary is founded on de- 
lusion, a result of the action of alcohol on the nerve centers. 

5. Further, alcohol tends to produce in the offspring of 
drinkers an unstable nervous system, lowering them men- 
tally, morally and physically. Thus deterioration of the 
race threatens us, and this is likely to be greatly acceler- 
ated by the alarming increase of drinking among women, 
who have hitherto been little addicted to this vice. Since 
the mothers of the coming generation are thus in- 
volved the importance and danger of this increase cannot 
be exaggerated. 

Seeing then, that the common use of alcoholic beverages 
is always and everywhere followed, sooner or later, by 
moral, physical and social results of a most serious and 
threatening character, and that it is the cause, direct or in- 
direct, of a very large proportion of the poverty, suffering, 
vice, crime, lunacy, disease and death, not only in the case 
of the drunkard but of others who are unavoidably associ- 
ated with them, we feel warranted, and compelled to urge the 
general adoption of total abstinence from all intoxicating 
liquors as beverages, as the surest, simplest and quickest 
method of removing the evils which necessarily result from 
their use. Such a course is not only universally safe, but 
it is also natural. 

We believe that such an era of health, happiness and pros- 
perity would be inaugurated thereby that many of the social 
problems of the present age would be solved. 

The year has been marked by more detailed examination 
of the effects of alcohol upon the human system, with the 
result that progress towards its eventual overthrow as a 
medicine has been distinctly made. The greatest reforms 



160 

are brought about quietly, but truth is mighty and does pre- 
vail. It will take time, but gradually all will come to feel 
the suggestive power in the fact that "The table of nature 
is spread, and bountifulully spread, for all its millions upon 
millions of guests, but wine and strong drink are not on the 
table." 



OPmiOJSTS OF LEADING PHYSICIAN^S. 

The alarming growth of the use of beer among our people, 
and the spreading delusion among many who consider them- 
selves temperate and sober, that the encouragement of beer 
drinking is an effective way of promoting the cause of tem- 
perance and of aiding to stamp out the demon rum, impelled 
the Toledo Blade to send a representative to a number of 
the leading physicians of Toledo to obtain their opinions as 
to the real damage which indulgence in malt liquors does 
the victim of that form of intemperance. 

Every one is not only a gentleman of the highest personal 
character, but is a physician whose professional abilities 
have been severely tested, and received the stamp of the 
highest endorsement by the public and their professional 
brethren. More skilful physicians are not to be found any- 
where. We have not selected those of known temperance 
principles. What they say of beer is not colored by any 
feeling for or against temperance, but is the cold, bare ex- 
perience of men of science who know whereof they speak. 

Toledo is essentially a beer drinking city. The German 
population is very large. Five of the largest breweries in 
the country are here. Probably more beer is drunk in pro- 
portion to the population than in any other city in the Uni- 
ted States. The practice of these physicians is, therefore, 
largely among the beer drinkers and they have had abun- 
dant opportunities to know exactly its bearings on health 
and disease. 

Every one bears testimony that no man can drink beer 
safely, that it is an injury to any one who uses it in any 



161 
quantity, and that its effect on the general health of the 
country has been even worse than that of whiskey. The 
indictment they with one accord present against beer drink- 
ing is simply terrible. 

Doctor H. S. Bnrgen, a practitioner thirty -five years, twen- 
ty-eight in Toledo, says: "I think beer kills quicker than 
any other liquor. My attention was first called to its insid- 
ious effects, when I began examining for life insurance. I 
passed as unusually good risks five Germans — young busi- 
ness men — who seemed in the best of health, and to have su- 
perb constitutions. In a few years I was amazed to see the 
whole five drop off, one after another, with what ought to 
have been mild and easily curable diseases. On comparing 
my experience with that of other physicians I found they were 
all having similar luck with confirmed beer drinkers, and my 
practice since has heaped confirmation on confirmation. 

The first organ to be attacked is the kidneys; the liver 
soon sympathizes, and then comes, most frequently, dropsy 
or Bright's disease, both certain to end fatally. Any phy- 
sician, who cares to take time, will tell you that among the 
dreadful results of beer drinking are lockjaw and erysipelas, 
and that the beer drinker seems incapable of recovering 
from mild disorders and injuries not usually regarded as of a 
grave character. Pneumonia, pleurisy, fevers, etc., seem to 
have a first mortgage on him which they foreclose remorse- 
lessly at an early opportunity. 

The beer drinker is much worse off than the whiskey 
drinker who seems to have more elasticity and reserve pow- 
er. He will even have delirium tremens; but after the fit 
is gone you will some times find good material to work upon. 
Good management will bring him around all right, but when 
the beer drinker gets into trouble it seems almost as if you 
have to recreate the man before you can do anything for him. 
I have talked this for years, and have had abundance of 
living and dead instances around me to support my opinions. 

From a speech by speech by Senator J. H. Gallinger, M. D. 

Archbishop Ireland says: "If you want to keep liquor out 
of the home be a good cook. A man needs a certain amount 
of vegetable alcohol and and if he does not get it in daintily 
prepared cooking he will take the pure stuff. Above all 



162 

things be a teetotaler and teach your child to hate liquor in 
all forms. Teach him to live an upright and pure life, and 
above all, to be a christian." 

As a rule, the food on the table of the poor is of a bad 
quality. Frances Willard said truly, "Drunkenness leads to 
poverty, and poverty to drunkenness." It is a real fact that 
once a man becomes poor he has many temptations to be- 
come a drunkard. His craving for the kind of food he can- 
not buy or his wife does not know how to prepare very oft- 
en leads him to begin to drink beer and other liquor. Many 
a woman has been the unwitting cause of her husband's 
drunkenness because of her utter ignorance of or her detesta- 
tion of cookery. 

Thousands of women are today suffering untold misery be- 
cause of drunken husbands. They are slaves in worse con- 
dition those who are held as chattels, but I believe that wom- 
en are largely to blame for the continuance of the drink evil 
and of the tobacco habit. If all the women in this country 
would oppose in every possible way the use of intoxicating 
liquors they would very soon disappear. A woman at one 
time complained to me of her husband's drunkenness. I said 
to her, "Bring him with you to the temperance lecture," 
at which she became very angry and said, "Away with your 
Christianity and your temperance people. My husband is 
as good as any man when he is sober." She disliked her 
husband's drunkenness, but would not let any one under- 
stand that he was any the less a man for it, and so there are 
two classes of women, one who fear their husbands and fear 
to do anything to criticize their husbands. And the other 
class whose husbands are moderate drinkers and have not 
yet arrived at the stage of drunkenness and wife -beating, 
and who, therefore, ignore the question entirely. If the 
women of the country would all band together the drink 
evil would be driven from the country without the use of a 
ballot. 

We are very careful in trying to prevent the spreading of 
contagious diseases. Why should we not be just as careful 
as to the spread of drunkenness and wickedness of all kinds? 
We should be careful of the company which our boys keep 
lest they catch the worst of diseases, drunkenness, which 



163 

destroys both body and soul. 

If a man has a cancer and it is not cnt out and destroyed 
it will destroy him. The liquor traffic is the most dangerous 
cancer present today in this country, and if we do not des- 
troy it we shall be destroyed. If the Roman Church would 
unite with the Protestant and the Anti- Saloon League in 
helping to put down the evils of the saloon, nothing could 
withstand such a combination. About seventy per cent of 
the saloon keepers are Catholics and until the Catholic 
Church is as definite and energetic in its teachings as to the 
liquor traffic as it is in regard to its other doctrines the liq- 
uor traffic will not be downed. Catholics, as a rule, are in- 
temperate, and there are few good temperance workers a- 
mong the Catholics. Among these is Archbishop Keene 
of Dubuque, who is very like a Protestant in a good many 
of his ways, and is not only interested in getting the people 
to church and school, but also in getting them to keep out 
of the saloons. 

Many people including Catholics believe that the Bible 
sanctions the use of liquor and point to the miracle in which 
Christ at the wedding changed water into wine. I do not 
know much about that miracle, but I do know that 
it was not the kind of wine that we have nowdays, 
and I do know that the people in that country today use a 
wine which they make by adding water to the dry substance 
that remains in the skins after the fermented wine has evap- 
orated. Christ never gave any one that which was bad for 
him and it is not conceivable that He made and gave to the 
wedding party that which had the devil in it. There are 
men who can take a glass of beer or wine and not take any 
more. These men have never been drunk and look with 
scorn upon the poor weakling who becomes intoxicated 
whenever he drinks any beer or wine. But such men are in 
danger and many of them will eventually fill drunkards' 
graves. Practically all men who are now drunkards were 
once moderate drinkers. I would give all I have in the 
world if I could do something to make this awful curse dis- 
appear from among us, not only for my own benefit, but for 
the benefit of my children or for some one's else children. 
Reader, do you understand something of the great blessing 



164 

that would come to the world if this curse could be blotted 
out? And after all it is only a habit and every one could 
get along without it. You notice temperate, hard-working 
men getting along without it but they have three square 
meals a day and a happy home. 

Oh that doctors and priests would join with educators and 
Protestant workers in endeavoring to stamp out this terrible 
evil! 



CURBING THE SALOON. 



For the past century the saloon has been a constantly in- 
creasing factor to be reckoned with in our politics. It has 
come more and more to disregard laws made to regulate it. 
And in order to do this it has more and more entered into pol- 
itics until at the present time it is probably the most power- 
ful influence in any question of nation-wide politics. The 
saloon exists today because it is permitted to exist through 
the interpretation of law. And just as the saloon has been 
permitted to exist through interpretation of law so also are 
we coming to the time when laws are being made of such 
a character as to destroy the saloon. 

But not all jurists are agreed in the interpretation of the 
law as regards the right of the saloon in view of what it 
does, to exist. 

In the book which Carry Nation has written about herself 
she has the following paragraphs on that subject: 

The very highest judicial authority, the Supreme Court 
of the Nation, has made the most radical ruling, to wit: 
"No legislature can bargain away the public health or the 
public morals. The people themselves cannot do it, much 
less their servants. Government is organized with a view 
to their preservation and cannot divest itself of the power 
to provide for them. "—101 U. S. 816. 

No state, therefore, can license or legalize immorality, 



165 
vice or crime. All such efforts are treason to society and or- 
ganized government. 

Again, the Supreme Court of the United States has de- 
clared: "If the public safety or the public morals require 
the discontinuance of any manufacture or traffic, the hand 
of the legislature cannot be stayed from providing for its 
discontinuance, by any incidental inconvenience which indi- 
viduals or corporations may suffer." — 97 U. S. 32. Thus the 
legislature of any state can confiscate property by whole- 
sale if necessary for the protection of the community. Pow- 
der mills, slaughter houses and pest houses, necessary insti- 
tutions, are frequently so condemned and rendered absolute- 
ly worthless. 

There is not a lawful saloon in the world. Law is as eter- 
nal and unchangeable as God himself, who says that, "Sin 
is the transgression of the law." (1 John 3:4.) Anything 
that is sinful is not lawful, and anything that is not lawful can- 
not but be sinful. The saloon is not lawful because it is sin- 
ful. Blackstone's definition of law is this, "Law is a rule 
of action prescribed by the supreme power of the state, 
commanding that which is right and prohibiting that which 
is wrong." We should not send men to Congress to make 
law;- law is already made. It is that men may find out what 
law is and see that it is enforced. Saloons are unconstitu- 
tional. Our forefathers gave us the Constitution of the 
United States which is a guarantee to the people to make 
perfect union, "domestic tranquillity", "common good" and 
"public defense". A saloon destroys every one of these guar- 
antees. It is treason to enforce law that prohibits crime - 
and at the same time license saloons that would prohibit 
law from prohibiting crime. 

It is not only the privilege of the patriotic citizen to abate 
a dangerous nuisance but it is commendable. Bishop on 
Criminal Law, paragraph 1081, says: "This doctrine (of a- 
batement of a public nuisance by an individual) is an expres- 
sion of the better instincts of our natures, which lead men 
to watch over and shield one another from harm." 

1 Bishop's Criminal Law 828; 1 Hilhard on Torts, 605. 
' 'At common law it was always the right of a citizen, with- 
out official authority, to abate a public nuisance, and with- 



166 

out waiting to have it adjudged such by a legal tribunal. 

His right to do so depended upon the fact of its being a 

nuisance. 

In abating it, property may be destroyed, and the owner 
deprived of it without a trial, without notice and without 
compensation. Such destruction for public safety or health 
is not taking of private property for public uses without 
compensation, or due process of law, in the sense of the con- 
stitution. It is simply the prevention of its noxious and un- 
lawful use, and depends upon the principle that every man 
must so use his property as not to injure his neighbors, and 
that the safety of the public is the paramount law. These 
principles are legal maxims and axioms essential to the ex- 
istence of regulated society. Written constitutions pre-sup- 
pose them, are subordinate to them, and cannot set them a- 
side." 

Judge Baker sums up the case thus: "The women who 
destroyed such property are not criminals. They have the 
same right to abate such common nuisances as men have to 
defend their persons or domiciles when unlawfully assailed. 
As the women of that state are denied the right to vote or 
hold office, I think they are fully Justified, morally and legally 
in protecting their homes, their families, and themselves 
from the ravages of these demons of vice in the summary 
manner which the law permits." 

By Bible authority and by the common law of our land I 
have proved to the satisfaction of all who will see the right, 
that I am a loyal American, a loving Home Defender, doing 
the will of Him whom I serve and whose I am. 



The last three or four years have witnessed a remarkable 
movement in this country. For a good many years the Pro- 
hibition party as a political party has made an ineffectual at- 
tempt to make itself felt. For nearly a quarter of a century 
the most progressive states of the Union have been giving 
their children an education in temperance from a scientific 
standpoint. Year by year the liquor traffic increased and 
the saloon element became a more piowerf ul factor in politics. 
At last there was organized what is known as the Anti- Sa- 
loon League which is not making a fight directly against 



167 
the iise of intoxicating liquor, but is fighting the saloon. A 
recent number of a popular monthly contains the following 
summary as to some of the things which have been accom- 
plished and what some of the results have been. 

Today, besides these two (Maine and Kansas) there is 
state Prohibition in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, North 
Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Tennes- 
see passed it over the governor's veto. Her legislature 
passed also over the governor's veto a law prohibiting the 
manufacture of any intoxicant in Tennessee, and it will go 
into effect January 1, 1910. It takes a powerful movement 
to pass any bill over a governor's veto. When that bill is 
for prohibition, it is almost unbelievable. 

In Arkansas, fifty- eight countries are dry, and the State 
is said to be on the verge of Prohibition. In California, 
eight counties and fifty-nine municipalities are dry, and 
seven counties have precinct option. In Colorado, seventy- 
eight towns went dry at the last municipal election; in Con- 
necticut, ninety- six. Delaware is two -thirds dry by county 
option. Thirty- seven counties out of forty- six are dry in 
in Florida, and the people will vote on state Prohibition in 
1910. In Illinois thirty-seven counties are dry; in Indiana, 
fifty-four; in Iowa, seventy-seven; in Kentucky, ninety-six 
out of one hundred and nineteen; in Missouri, seventy-seven, 
with a strong movement for Prohibition; in Texas, one hun- 
dred and fifty-two counties, with a strong Prohibition move- 
ment; in Virginia, seventy-one counties out of one hundred; 
in West Virginia, twenty-nine out of fifty-four. Thirty par- 
ishes went dry in Louisiana under its new license law, and 
prohibition sentiment is growing. Maryland is dry under • 
local option, Massachusetts has twenty cities and two hun- 
dred and sixty-one towns dry, against thirteen cities and six- 
ty towns wet. Michigan has eleven dry counties, Minnesota 
sixteen hundred dry townships, Nebraska twenty-one dry 
counties. New Hampshire, one hundred and ninety-seven 
towns and six cities dry; New York, three hundred and 
fourteen towns dry; Ohio sixty dry counties out of ninety- 
eight; Oregon, twenty-one out of thirty-three. Half of 
South Carolina is dry, two hundred and sixteen towns in 
Vermont, eight hundred towns in Wisconsin. And since 



168 

that list was made up early in 1909 the returns continue to 
come in — three more counties gone dry in Indiana; sixteen 
out of twenty-seven that voted "wet or dry" in Michigan 
April 5. Governor Shallenberger of Nebraska has signed 
the "daylight saloon" bill, which permits the sale of liquor 
only between 7 a. m. and 8 p. m. Washington and Idaho 
passed strong local option laws; Utah another, which was 
vetoed by her governor when too late to be passed over his 
veto; the Alaska- Yukon Exposition at Seattle went dry, so 
far as the grounds were concerned — the first exposition in 
the world to do so. 



The United States Labor Department, using percentages 
based on several thousand reports found that ninety per 
cent of the railroads, seventy -nine per cent of the manufac- 
tures, eighty-eight per-cent of the trades, and seventy-two 
per cent of the agriculturists discriminate against drinking 
men as employees. 



Worcester, Massachusetts, on May 1, 1909, completed its 
first dry year. It is the largest city in the world to go dry of 
its own accord. There are bigger dry cities, but they are 
dry through a state or a county vote. Worcester is also the 
first city in the world of over 100,000 inhabitants to vote no 
license, twice in succession. During the year ending May 1, 
1909, its first under no license, arrests for drunkenness de- 
creased in Worcester from 3,924 to 181:3; for assault and 
battery, from 382 to 263; for larceny, from 343 to 255; for 
non-support from 112 to 87; for disturbance of the peace 
from 210 to 109. Reading the figures for larceny and non- 
support, one should remember that was the panic year, full 
of hard times for the poor. Patients in the alcoholic ward 
in the city hospital decreased from 274 to 144 and deaths 
from alcoholism from 30 to 6. 

State Prohibition went into effect in Georgia, January 1, 
1908, and the figures available are for the first nine months 
of that year. During the first nine months of 1907, there 
were 15,088 arrests in Atlanta. During the corresponding 
nine months in 1908 there were 8,990 — a reduction of more 
than forty per cent. In Macon, arrests during the same pe- 



169 

riod decreased from 4,565 to 2,755; Columbus showed a de- 
creas of fifty per cent. From all parts of the state came 
the same story. 

The Birmingham Grand Jury at the end of the first ten 
months of Prohibition in Alabama, said in its report; "We 
congratulate our country on the benefits derived from Pro- 
hibition law as shown by our reports on the county jail. 
The county has saved about $6,000 on feeding county pris- 
oners alone. As this amount is thirty cents a day for each 
prisoner, this means an average decrease of seventy-one 
prisoners for each of the ten months counted. This we be- 
lieve due entirely to Prohibition. We find crime is largely 
on the decrease." 

The following is from a current daily paper. 

Kirks ville. Mo. Aug. 31. — Kirks ville closed its twelfth 
month of temperance yesterday. The last saloon in town 
closed its doors a year ago. The calamity that was predict- 
ed during a very warm local option fight in the city and in 
Adair county failed to arrive. In fact the twelve months of 
drought has been a peroid of unprecedented growth. Butch- 
er shops and bakeries took possession of the buidings made 
vacant by the local option law and the owners did not lose 
a month's rent. 

The merchants of Kirksville say that their business has 
been from 25 to 50 per cent larger during the twelve months 
just closing than it was a year ago. More than $300,000 
worth of business houses and residences are being built this 
season and there is not a vacant house in the town. Pour 
large business buildings are now being erected near the 
public square to satisfy the demands for the increasing 
number of stores. Property values are steadily increasing 
and the people are engaged in getting up a bonus of $100,000 
for an inter urban road to Hannibal. 

Only one business in Kirksville and Adair county has suf- 
fered. That is the criminal court. The business of this 
institution has decreased 50 per cent. The officers now 
keep busy by making the people cut their weeds and obey 
the sanitary ordinances of the city. There has not been a 
murder case in the courts for a year and the county jail has 
only two occupants. 



170 

While we find the church christianizing and building the 
world up in all parts of the land, we find satan sending his 
party along seeking for license that he may destroy. 



THE PARTING OF THE WAYS. 



In every man's life there is a time when he comes to the 
parting of the ways, and he must choose one way or the oth- 
er. It is equally true of nations; the entire future of a na- 
tion many times hinges upon a single step. So rapid is the 
progress of events that a few moments in the wrong direc- 
tion has hurled nations and people so far from the course 
that ages of struggling effort could not bring them back. 

No nation, having been brought squarely before a great 
moral issue, and shrinking from it, has long survived. No 
great issue once brought before a people has been settled by 
compromise. For years the compromising statesmen of the 
last century were scotching the dragon of slavery, but it 
died only when the union overwhelmed it in the blood of a 
million of her bravest sons. Today, fellow citizens, we are 
at the parting of the ways; we are brought face to face with 
a question of more gigantic proportions than has confronted 
us for forty years. 

The question that now confronts us is whether we shall 
any longer tolerate the manufacture and sale of alcoholic 
liquors as a beverage. It is an important question because 
it deals with one of our largest industries. But this industry 
burdens us financially, injures us socially. 

Let us for a moment consider it from a financial stand- 
point. Here is what the liquor men consider their strong- 
hold. In triumph, they flaunt before us the almost $300,000, 
000 paid for revenue and license. Again with equal force, 
they shout: "By our business we provide work for about 
500,000 men." Mark now! There is spent annually in this 
country about $1,500,000,000 for liquor. If this money were 



171 
spent for the necessaries of life, over 1,600,000 men would be 
employed. Thus, instead of giving employment, liquor 
throws out of employment over 1,000,000 men. The reve- 
nue is doubly consumed in supporting jails, penitentiaries, 
almshouses and asylums. 

Further, if we had time, we could show you on a good au- 
thority that the $1,500,000,000 is worse than wasted; for 
counting the money used in supporting the criminals and 
paupers made by liquor, the shortened lives of men, and 
misdirected work, we lose annually over $2,500,000,000 or 
more than the expenses of our national government. 

"The saloon is a social necessity," some good men say. 
But it becomes a necessity only because it has first ruined 
the home. It destroys the best and noblest society, for by it 
manhood and womanhood are blighted. It changes the 
kind parent into the vile, degraded being, who enjoys no 
home, who knows not the rights and duties of a parent, and 
who can know nothing of sociability. 

Today our best men are crying out against the sins and 
crimes of our large cities and the corruption of our politics; 
the condition of our cities is too horrible to portrayed; dens 
of infamy and ill fame are found on almost every street, and 
some of the parlors of the so-called high society are almost 
as corrupt as those dens. To tell of the corruption of our 
politics would be a waste of time. Yet to look at the cor- 
rupt government of our cities, with their drunken police 
forces and machine-managed aldermen, at our saloon con- 
trolled conventions aiid polluted law courts; to see our 
government, once a government by the people, for the people 
now defied and almost controlled by the rum seller, for the 
rum seller; to see our land, ont^e the 'home of the oppressed 
and down-trodden of every nation, now cherishing and pro- 
tecting man's most deadly enemy, is enough to madden you, 
make you wild, and fire you with a courage born of desper- 
ation. Almost all this corruption and sin may be laid at the 
door of the saloon. Take the saloon out of our politics and 
you take away the bridge by which the ' corruptor reaches 
the voter. Take away the saloon and you have cut ofi the 
easiest path the devil has to reach the youth. For it is 
when a man has lost his will before the bar that he sells his 



172 

vote; it is when a man or woman is crazed with drink that all 
sense of virtue and honor is lost, and then, like a helmJess 
ship, is dashed against the rocks, wrecked, ruined and lost. 

Here, then, rampant among us, is this business, declared 
injurious to our finances; charged by philanthropists and 
statesmen as the source of poverty, wretchedness and crime; 
denounced as the greatest enemy of the church, and cursed 
by God. What shall be done with it? There can be only 
one answer; it must be abolished. We must annihilate it, or 
we ourselves will be annihilated by it, for it is the most 
dangerous foe to our country. 

The history of the world proves that the fall of every na- 
tion has been wrought by the nation itself. Rome, Poland, 
France and Spain fell, crushed by the weight of their own 
vices and follies; and if our nation ever falls, it will not be 
through a foreign foe, but from internal corruption. 

The corrupting influence of the saloon has been universal- 
ly recognized and many methods for the solution of the drink 
problem have been tried. High license, local option, and 
state dispensary have been tried, but have signally failed; 
even State Prohibition without officials behind it committed 
to that policy has been only a partial success. The failure 
of prohibitory laws may always be laid to the indifference 
or antagonism of officials. To be enforced a prohibitory law 
must have the power of organization behind it. The only 
plan that has never failed is Prohibition enforced by Pro- 
hibition officers. Sheriff Pearson has shown the force of a 
law wielded by its friends. For our nation to live it must 
sever its connection with the saloon. Here is the parting 
of the ways. Then let us unite with the one grand party 
pledged for the overthrow of the legalized liquor traffic. 

America, purge thyself from this terrible curse. Do you 
say that the evil has such a hold that we cannot; that we 
need the money which it pays; that it will cause disturbances 
in labor circles; and that to destroy it now will hinder us in 
our march to gain and maintain the first place among the 
nations? Then we answer, it will not disturb labor; we are 
receiving no financial benefit from it; and even so, knowing 
that the money is the price of our brother's blood, we will 
not have it. If we can mantain our schools and build our 



173 

houses only by selling our countrymen into eternal bondage, 
then we will live in log cabins and die in the darkest igno- 
ance. We believe that to destroy this business will not hin- 
der us from maintaining the first place among the nations; 
but, if, in order to maintain the lead of the nations, we must 
endure the poverty, wretchedness and crimes of this busi- 
ness and trample over the mangled bodies of our brothers 
and sisters, then we prefer with a pure conscience and clean 
skirts, a place in the rear. 

America, thou young giant among the nations, where is 
thy strength that thou canst overcome this evil? Americans, 
descendants of the men who defied the anger of Rome; de- 
scendants of the Puritans who braved the wilds of New 
England for liberty's sake; descendants of the men who, 
with Wolfe, scaled the heights of Quebec; descendants of 
the men who, with Washington, left upon the snow the 
marks of their bleeding feet, and who laid down their lives 
rather than submit to a tyrant; sons of the men who, 
through four years, struggled for the life of the republic 
and for the freedom of the slaves, arise, put on your strength, 
let the achievements of your fathers, and the righteousness 
of your cause, "brace your heart and nerve your arm," for 
the great conflict now on, the conflict of alcohol against 
your home, your God, and your native land. 

HERBERT BOASE 

In W. C- T. U. National Educator. 



WAR. 



A nation that deserves the name of Christian will never 
enter upon war unless it be in defencp of the weak. I be- 
lieve in disarmament and that the day is not far distant 
when this will be a fact. All disputes that arise may be 
settled in a kind of international court something like that 
which has been established at The Hague. It seems incom- 
prehensible that in our present state of civilization any na- 
tion will consent to make the sacrifice of liA^es and money 
which any war, however short, involves. It was once thought 
and is even now taught by some sociologists that war has 
been and is necessary to get rid of surplus population; but 
many other things have brought about a similar situation. 
When machinery first began to be used the question was 
raised as to what the thousands of men would do when their 
work was done by a few machines. The introduction of 
machinery has not, however, lessened the opportunities of 
the laboring man but has rather increased them. 

Some have said that wars raise prices. So it will in a 
few cases, but look at the debts which the countries must ac- 
cumulate; look at the poverty and suffering both in Russia 
and in Japan after the close of that great struggle. And all 
this might have been averted had it not been for the obsti- 
nancy and pride of the wicked Russian statesmen. If the 
billions spent in carrying on war were used for public ben- 
efactions what a difference it would make the world over. 

In countries which maintain large navies and standing 
armies the rich and the poor, especially the poor, are over- 
burdened in order to maintain them. The life of a soldier is 
not the best kind of one. Their idleness leads to all kinds 
of vice. More than once in the history of the world the 
whole future of a natiou has been changed through some 
caprice on the part of the army. 

The world is large and a large part of it is undeveloped, 



175 

and the mass of its population uneducated. And there are 
a thousand ways in which every government could spend all 
its available money in providing employment and means of 
betterment for the people. So that there need be practical- 
ly no poverty. If even our country which has a small 
standing army, but a large navy, could have for the use of 
the people the money necessary to maintain the army and 
and navy we could soon dispose of the national debt and 
help the poor who have such a struggle. 

Here follows a quotation from Pearson's Weekly, on The 
Fall of Nations: 

Most countries which have died have gone down fighting. 
The Roman empire perished like that, and by the irony of 
fate the power of the Caesars came to an end far away from 
Rome. 

After it had existed for centuries the Roman empire be- 
came so vast and unwieldy that it had to be divided into two, 
the empire of the west and the empire of the east. The 
capital of the former was Rome. 

The empire of the west became so weak at last that it 
could make no stand against its enemies. Rome was sacked by 
the barbarians and eventually became not the capital of a 
vast empire, but the city of the popes, over which the pon- 
tiffs reigned as kings. The temporal power of the popes 
lasted till 1870, while the capital of Italy was first Turin 
and then Milan. Finally the city was taken without a real 
fight by the soldiers of the king of Italy. 

The empire of the east had its capital at Constantinople. 
For centuries it was the greatest power in the world. But 
it became honeycombed with vice and enervated with pride 
and luxury; also it grew old and weak. Then in 1422 the 
Turks made a tigerish spring on Constantinople and took it 
by storm. The last of the Greek emperors died sword in 
hand, and his descendants are living in England today in 
very humble situations. 

Egypt, once so powerful and so famous under the phara- 
ohs, was conquered by Rome and was afterward swamped 
by the Moslems. The crescent was supreme in the land of 
the Nile, and the aforetime haughty Egyptians were slaves 
for a thousand years. 



176 

The great moguls used to reign in India. In the days of 
Queen Ehzabeth the mogul — or emperor of Delhi, as he was 
sometimes called — ^was so powerful that he thought it a vast 
condescension on his part to receive an embassy from the 
maiden queen. But as time went on the great rajahs, or 
tributary kings, rebelled against the moguls. India was rent 
asunder by the wars between rival rajahs. This gave the 
Europeans a chance. 

France at first held the upper hand and nearly conquered 
the land, but then England drove France back and seized 
the empire of the great moguls for herself. The heir of the 
moguls, by the way, still enjoys a pension given by the Brit- 
ish government as a compensation for the throne lost by his 
ancestors. 

Poland used to occupy a big place on the map of Europe. 
At one time it was much larger and stronger than Russia. 
The czar of Russia and the emperor of Austria were only too 
glad to be on good terais with the king of Poland, and there 
was no king of Prussia in those days. 

Noble adventurers from all parts of the world flocked to 
the Polish capital at Warsaw, eager to ser\^e in the Polish 
armies. The Duke of Monmouth, son of King Charles II, 
of England, thought of doing this. 

But Poland perished through her own faults and follies. 
The mass of the common people were slaves in all but name. 
They were not allowed to move from one part of the country 
to another without leave, they could not own a foot of land, 
and they could never be sure that they might not be sold by 
the great noble they served to a new master; hence the no- 
bles and the people never stood together in times of danger 
or disaster. 

Poland was a big country, but it was divided against itself, 
and Russia, Prussia and Austria combined were more power- 
ful. They all three joined hands, and each took a large 
share of Poland in 1772. That was the "first partition of 
Poland." The Poles submitted tamely, for they were still 
divided. 

In 1793 the trio of robbers made a second swoop. Only 
the ghost of Poland was left. Another year saw the end of 
the tragedy. The last remnants of Poland were swallowed 



177 

up by Russia, Prussia and Austria. 

The fate of the republic of Venice is one of the most 
dramatic in all history. For hundreds of years the City of 
the Lagoons was one of the most powerful states in the 
world. Its doges ranked as the equals of the proudest 
kings. Its alliance was coveted by the greatest powers. 
Its government was one of sheer terrorism. The doge was 
hardly more than a splendid figurehead. All real power 
rested in the hands of the dreaded council of ten and the 
secret three. The latter were a trio of living mysteries 
and were known by name to practially no one in Venice. 

Sometimes a man was one of the secret three and his own 
wife and children never dreamed of it. Their most dreaded 
servants were masked mutes. If a Venetian, no matter how 
high his rank, was denounced by the council of ten or the 
secret three, he knew he was no better than a dead man. 
So the government of Venice was a terror to its own people 
and the outside world. Then Napoleon came upon the scene, 
and "the lion of St. Mark licked the dust." — Pearson's 
Weekly. 



THE NEED OF THE COUNTRY. 



James J. Hill, in a recent interview, gave voice to what 
seems to me to express very clearly the danger and need of 
the present time. His statement is as follows: 

"Not only America, but Europe, is afflicted with the germ 
of recklessness. Our national legislature sets the pace. 

"We are spending millions on top of millions for the army, 
for the navy, when we need neither. For congress to ap- 
propriate the several hundred millions annually, as it does 
for the guns of the ships is encouragement for the individ- 
ual to talk about warfare when there isn't any war cloud 
apparent anywhere. 

"Grant said 'Let us have peace.' But, as Napoleon desired 
for his time and his reign, this country seems to wish war. 



178 

And why and for what? What reason have we to combat, 
except commercially, any foreign power? And yet, speak- 
ing soberly, I will say that we must do something quickly 
toward regaining our trade with other countries. 

"Germany, England and France are advancing and pre- 
empting territory that naturally belongs to us. We can 
recover that trade only by encouraging shipping industries, 
by more marked methods of inviting trade, by systems of 
reciprocity, by competition — ^the latter, after all, being the 
real key-note of commerce. 

"Were I in control of the finances of this government I 
should spend more for the developement of the farm and less 
for the fineness of firearms. I should have agricultural 
stations situated in all parts of the nation where one might 
come to be taught how to grow two blades of grass where 
but one grew before. 

"Think of the congestion of the cities. How long can this 
nation survive under present conditions? We have a few 
producers, a multitude of consumers. I have forgotten the 
figures, but somewhere I have read that 70 per cent of the 
people live in the city houses, steamheated flats, in homes 
unsuited for health, unequipped for the sturdiness necessary 
for the developement of our manhood. I should like to see 
the government spend millions in the encouragement of men 
and women going to the country, there to live as God intend- 
ed they should live — to raise children, produce grain, meat 
and milk. 

' 'We must get out of the notion that we are living for the 
present. It is a bad system of society that prompts the well 
being of today, caring nothing for tomorrow, for those who 
come after. 

"Millions upon millions of acres lie undisturbed in the 
west. You have poverty stricken people in your great cities, 
children who are denied the privileges of education, mothers 
who must go through life with tear stained eyes, husbands 
and fathers with burdens they can ill afford to carry. And 
why? Because of their nonproductiveness. 

"This country as a government ulimately must go back- 
ward unless we induce the people to go to the farms — out 
in the country where health may be obtained, where a man 



179 
may make a living, where the boys and girls may go hop- 
footing it over hill and valley, gaining strength with every 
step. 

"The desire seems to be for the young to get to the city. 
That desire must be circumvented, dissipated by some sort 
of method. We must make the country life as attractive to 
the young as the city is. We must teach them that where 
the city affords a dollar the rural communities will contrib- 
ute two. And that is true unless one is a genius. 

"You ask about the prosperity of the nation. It was never 
better. Crops have been good, mortgages have been wiped 
away by the millions, new fields have been opened, new 
cities built, new railroads constructed, others planned. 
Peace reigns. I can see no black spot anywhere. There 
will be no central bank. The country will not stand for it. 

"Let congress and the. various state legislatures take a 
more catholic view of the railroad situation. Let them re- 
member that the railroad investor has his money at stake, 
that he has contributed something towards the development 
of the country, that he is neither a thief nor a robber, as 
some would have his countrymen believe, and then we will 
have a more homogeneous nation, less trouble, more flour 
and bacon sides in our pantries, fewer suicides, greater bank 
accounts in our savings institutions, better morals. 

' 'We must learn to be less extravagant. We must be taught 
to understand that at the rate our people are living destruct- 
ion to the whole moral fabric of the nation is inevitable." 

"There is a great deal of dispute as to the unsatisfactory 
farm help," says the Fort Dodge Messenger. I will answer 
the question by saying that it is the fault of the parents 
for sending so many of their sons to the city schools. A boy 
will never be much of a success as a farmer after he has 
been some time in the city. A boy had rather put up with 
the hardest kind of labor so that he can get what he calls a 
a touch of high life at the theaters, balls, saloons and some 
times at gaming houses. The cities are being overcrowded 
with what they call educated dudes with their white gloves 
on waiting for the snap jobs, which are mostly all taken by 
the female sex, so it leaves the men naught but pick and 
shovel. 



180 

My advice is to build up your country school. Make of 
every other school a sort of high school. Spend in this way 
only one-half what it would cost to send your boy to the city 
school and you will soon have plenty of good and educated 
farm help and if yours shows signs of becoming another rail 
splitter, or a Grant the world soon find him. It is not al- 
together the cities that have produced the great men. 

I recently read where in the city of New York that over 
10,000 poor men were willing to put up at the soup houses 
maintained by the charitable organizations in the city to 
keep from starving. 

Yes, stay on the farm, boys, where you will receive the 
best of everything and perhaps avoid the poor house and 
per chance the prison bars. 

Fathers and mothers, stay with your boys on the farm. 
Our large cities are becoming overcrowded and their prob- 
lems are very serious ones. On the other hand in many 
sections the country districts are becoming depopulated and 
in other parts there is no help to gather in the crops, while 
in the cities thousands are starving for want of work and 
other thousands are making what they call a living in very 
dishonorable ways. There is no life so honorable as that 
of the tiller of the soil and if I had a million dollars and a 
dozen sons I would not send them to the city to breath its 
corruption. 

Teach your children not to be ashamed of labor. Labor is 
the foundation of civilization; while idleness saps the life of 
any nation. 

Keep your children on the farm; spend part of your 
money in improving the country school and church instead 
of sending them to the city schools and we shall have more 
men like Washington and Lincoln and not so many manu- 
factured store dudes. The city has many attractions and 
comforts but beware of its vices which are in the very air. 
I do not mean to condem the people in our cities as being 
all bad people for we find many of the noblest characters 
there grappling with the city problems. But the saloon, the 
slum, gambling halls and concert halls and a thousand oth- 
er temptations meet a young man, things which he never 
would have had to face in the country, and while Christian 



181 
people and Christian churches are working hard to counter- 
act these influences they cannot be with all the young all 
the time. 



CONCLUSION. 



In conclusion let me say that in quoting from the writings 
of so many authors, I have done what I promised in the In- 
troduction, and have done so in order that I might make my 
statements have more weight. I have tried to warn of some 
of the evils of the world and of the danger that threatens 
from the power of Rome. Were she in power today men 
would be put in just such bondage of mind and soul as they 
were in the Middle Ages. As you have read this book you 
have seen how that men who have dared to stand for the 
truth, have been excommunicated, spat upon and deprived 
of many privileges. Some were burned, others beheaded 
and their bones thrown to the dogs, and even today, if one 
stands for the right and the truth, he will lose all his Cath- 
olic friends and will even be denied burial except by the 
Protestants who will perform this office for any who need it. 

Every day is proving more and more strongly the truth 
of my statements regarding the attitude of the Church of 
Rome today. Since the part of this book dealing with that 
part of the subject was completed, there has occured the in- 
cident in which the Pope refused to grant an audience to ex- 
president Roosevelt, and I feel as though it was providential 
that such an event took place before the book was completed, 
for it gives such a clear evidence of the tyranny and bigotrj^ 
of the Roman Hierarchy. 

A current daily remarked as follows — 

The refusal of Mr. Roosevelt to submit himself to the pe- 
cular papal etiquette which the Vatican would seek to impose 
upon all Americans accorded an audience with his Holiness 
will be approved by the people of the United States with few 
if any exceptions, although with sincere regret, particularly 



182 

by those of Roman Catholic faith, says the Omaha Bee. 
Were it not for the way in which Mr. Roosevelt states his 
position and appeals to his countrymen to treat the incident 
as wholly personal and "not warranting the slightest exhibi- 
tion of rancor or bitterness," the position doubtless would 
be to resent it as inexcusable and uncalled for. The perfect 
right of the guardians of the pope to say who shall and who 
shall not be received by him is freely conceded, but to make 
the privilege of such an audience conditional on a course of 
conduct satisfactory to the Vatican during the visitor's 
whole peroid of sojum in the Eternal City runs counter to 
our American idea of individual liberty and religious toler- 
ance. 

Rev. Mr. Tripple, the paster of the American Methodist 
Church in Rome, stated the case as it appealed to him. 

"Mr. Roosevelt has struck a blow for Twentieth Century 
Christianity. The representative of two great republics 
have been the ones to put the Vatican where it belongs. 
The Vatican is incompatible with republican principles. 

"This is a bitter dose for patriotic Catholics in America to 
swallow. I wonder how many doses of this sort they will 
take before they revolt. Is Catholicism in America to be Amer- 
ican or Romish? If Romish, then every patriotic American 
should rise to crush it, for Roman Catholicism is the uncom- 
promising foe of freedom. The world advances but the 
Vatican never." 

On April 10, 1910, at Fort Dodge, in addressing the 
Knights of Columbus, Bishop Garrigan tried to defend the 
Roman authorities in the question of Roosevelt vs the Pope. 
In the course of his remarks* he spoke as follows regarding 
the Protestant missionary movement: 

"And it was his idea that the Americans are to do it" 
(convert the whole world, as a returning traveler has assert- 
ed.) Therefore we read in the papers of the movement 
that is on foot, and we read of the amounts that are being 
raised with which to do it. Number and unity counts in this 
country and the number of men who can make the most noise 
are those who count. This plan is for the glory of Ameri- 
cans, it is America which is to do this, not the Church." 

The Bishop cannot have traveled much. Let him go 



183 
througli the mission fields and report what is being done that 
the churches are not doing. Where Rome for centuries has 
been working and has signally failed, the Protestant churches 
are Just beginning to go in and are succeeding so well as to 
have aroused the fear and jealousy of the Catholic Church, 
I wish to tell the Bishop that free, enlightened Protestant 
America is the light of the world. If it were not for the pow- 
er that Protestantism today holds in this country, our Catho- 
lic brethren would very soon understand the di:fference be- 
tween this country as it now is and other countries where 
Kome is not influenced by Protestantism. 

The attempt to muzzle such men as Mr, Roosevelt and Mr. 
Pairbanks is but an example of the way in which, all over 
the world, and very much so in our country, the Roman 
Church is trying to prevent the people from coming to know 
the truth. She is meddling in politics and business to such 
an extent that there are places where a Protestant business 
man hardly dares to express an opinion, for fear he will lose 
all his Catholic customers. And there is some room for the 
feeling that the Pope is consulted as to some of the appoint- 
ive of&ces. The time has come for the intelligent laymen, 
both Protestant and Catholic to awaken to the reality of the 
danger that is threatening this country through the long 
continued eifort of the Papacy to control the country- 



Some die in the bloom of youth, and some die full of 
years; some die hoarding treasure, while others die over- 
burdened with care; some die broken hearted, and some die 
frenzied with drink; but of all deaths. I would rather die 
fighting in defence of the Truth. 



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